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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  institut  Canadian  de  niicroreproductions  historiques 


1980 


Ik 


Technical  Notes  /  Notes  techniques 


The  institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Physical 
features  of  this  copy  which  may  alter  any  of  the 
images  in  the  reproduction  are  checked  below. 


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Coloured  covers/ 
Couvertures  de  couleur 


Coloured  maps/ 

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Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  d6colordes,  tachetdes  ou  piqudes 


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Reliure  serr6  (peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou 
de  la  distortion  le  long  de  la  marge 
int6rieure) 


L'institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Certains 
difauts  susceptibles  de  nuire  A  la  quality  de  la 
reproduction  sont  notte  ci-dessous. 


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Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata  slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have 

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Bound  with  other  material/ 
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Les  images  suivantes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  ie 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetd  de  rexemplaire  filmA,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche  shall 
contain  the  symbol  — ►  (meaning  CONTINUED"), 
or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"),  whichever 
applies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparattra  sur  la  der- 
nlAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  Ie  cas: 
Ie  symbols  —^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  Ie  symbols 
V  signifie  "FIN". 


The  original  copy  was  borrowed  from,  and 
filmed  with,  the  kind  consent  of  the  following 
institution: 

National  Library  of  Canada 


L'exemplaire  film6  fut  reproduit  grfice  A  la 
g6n6rosit6  de  I'dtabiissement  prAteur 
suivant  : 

BibliothAque  nationale  du  Canada 


Maps  or  plates  too  large  to  be  entirely  included 
in  one  exposure  are  filmed  beginning  in  the 
upper  lAft  hand  corner,  left  to  right  and  top  to 
bottom,  as  many  frames  as  required.  The 
following  diagrams  illustrate  the  method: 


Les  cartes  ou  les  planches  trop  grandes  pour  dtre 
reproduites  en  un  seul  clich6  sont  filmtes  d 
partir  de  I'angle  sup6rieure  gauche,  de  gauche  A 
droite  et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  Ie  nombre 
d'images  n^cessaire.  Le  diagramme  suivant 
illustre  la  m6thode  : 


1 

a 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

/Iftunsell's 

Diatorical  Series. 

IRo.  16. 


.jHinLJKa»^Hpau|flL!U.AKn 


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L-^    GEN.     BUROOYNE. 


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yx'yM  WAKA04.  tfft' 1777, 


■■■M-y        1 1 


?E  TOl^RNAl  OF  UEUt:  WlU,Ii\M   I  IGir 


■30.  OR  SHROPSiURE  REGIMKNT   OF  W0Oi. 


fcO   WtTif  HISTOmCAl.  KOTKS, 


*Mi.b  I'iiiNNEY  BAXTER.  A.   M. 


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^  :/ 


THEBRITISH  INVASION  FROM  THE  NORTH. 


THE  CAMPAIGNS 


OK 


GENERALS  CARLETON  AND  BURGOYNE 


FROM   CANADA,    I776-I777, 


WITH  THE  JOURNAL  OF  LIEUT.  WILLIAM  DIGBY, 


OF   THE 


53D,  OR  SHROPSHIRE  REGIMENT  OF  FOOT. 


ILLUSTRATED   WITH   HISTORICAL   NOTES, 


JAMES  PHINNEY  BAXTER,  A. 


M. 


ALBANY,  JV.    y,. 

JOEL    MUNSELL'S    SONS,    82    STATE    STREET. 

1887  . 


Ji 


V    2 


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Dry 


203810 


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cj 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PACE. 

Dedication,       ----------  ill 

Introduction,        ---- v 

The  Campaigns  of  Carletcn  and  Burgoyne  from  Canada,     -  i 

Preface  to  Digby's  Journal, 79 

The  Campaign  of  1776, 81 

The  Ci^mpaign  of  1777,        -        -        -        -        -        -        -        -185 

Return  of   killed,  wounded  and  prisoners  during  the  Cam- 
paign of  1777, 324 

Return  of  the  Army  of  the  United   States  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  Gates,  October  17,  1777,     -        -        -        -  354 
Return  of  the  British  Troops  under  the  command  of  General 

Burgoyne,    - 355 

Return  of  the  German  Troops  under  the  command  of  General 

Riedesel, 355 

General  Burgoyne's  Speech  to  the  Indians  in  Congress,  June 

21.  1777. 356 

Reply  of  the  Old  Chief  of  the  Iroquois,  -----  360 

Illustrations. 

Portrait  of  General  John  Burgoyne,      -        -        -        Frontispiece. 

Portrait  of  General  Horatio  Gates, 46 

Grave  of  Adams  and  Culbertson, -  136 

Burial  of  General  Fraser, 292 


J 


■  r  ■■■|i  I  Piiiii^»B«in 


DEDICATED 
tD  thB 
MarnDry 
of 
My  RevBrad  Fathar, 
Dr,  ELIHU  BAXTER; 
to  whnm 
tha  Man  of  tha  Ravolutlnn  wara^tha  mast  Haralc; 
the  most  davotad  to  duty^ 
and  the  mast 
pura  In  haart  at  all  man,  anclant  or  modarn, 


i 


INTRODUCTION. 


In  offering  to  the  public  a  new  addendum  to  that  stirring 
theme,  the  British  invasion  from  Canada  in  the  War  of  the 
Revolution,  a  few  explanatory  words  seem  proper.  While 
engaged  during  the  fall  and  winter  of  1885-6,  in  examining 
manuscripts  in  English  archives  relative  to  America,  a  Jour- 
nal in  the  British  Museum,  written  by  William  Digby,  an 
officer  in  the  army  of  invasion,  and  containing  interesting 
particulars  relative  to  the  two  campaigns  of  1776  and  1777, 
attracted  my  attention,  and  I  obtained  permission  from  the 
Museum  authorities  to  have  it  copied.  Having  familiarized 
myself  with  the  Journal,  I  became  so  interested  in  it,  that  I 
laid  aside  other  work  in  which  I  was  engaged  and  began 
collecting  materials  for  annotating  it.  This  work  led  to  a 
study  of  the  subject,  of  which  the  Journal  treats  but  partially, 
and  to  complete  my  task  properly,  a  succinct  account  of  the 
two  campaigns  and  of  questions  growing  out  of  them  con- 
nected with  the  hero  of  the  final  and  more  important  one  — 
General  Burgoyne  —  seemed  necessary  as  introductory  to 
Digby's  work ;  hence  my  account  of  the  campaigns  of  Carle- 
ton  and  Burgoyne.  In  my  work  I  have  received  favors 
from  many  sources,  notably  from  the  officials  of  the  British 
Museum,  especially  from  Mr.  Henry  Kensington ;  from  the 


VI 


hitroduction. 


British  War  and  Admiralty  Offices,  which  have  generously 
furnished  me  with  particulars  relative  to  officers  engaged 
in  the  two  campaigns,  and  from  Douglas  Brymner,  Esq., 
of  Ottawa,  Canadian  archivist.  Mr.  William  L.  Stone, 
so  well  known  to  all  historical  students  as  an  authority 
in  matters  relating  to  the  Revolutionary  period,  has  been 
untiring  in  giving  me  valuable  aid  and  encouragement ; 
Mr.  F.  D.  Stone,  librarian  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical 
Society,  and  particularly  Mr.  John  W.  Jordan,  his  able 
assistant,  have  rendered  me  valuable  aid,  and  the  same 
may  be  said  of  Mr.  A.  R.  Spofford  of  the  National 
Library  at  Washington ;  Mr.  F.  Saunders  of  the  Astor 
Library,  New  York,  and  William  H.  Egle,  M.  D.,  of 
the  State  Library  of  Pennsylvania  at  Harrisburg.  Last 
and  not  least,  I  must  refer  to  the  admirable,  I  may  say 
unequaled  work  of  Colonel  Horatio  Rogers,  embodied  in 
Hadden's  Journal  and  Orderly  Books,  from  which  I  have 
derived  much  information.  Of  the  author  of  the  Journal, 
William  Digby,  but  little  can  be  said.  I  have  been  baffled 
thus  far  in  obtaining  particulars  concerning  his  family  and 
early  history.  He  entered  the  British  military  service  as 
an  ensign  in  the  Fifty-third  Regiment  of  Foot,  on  Febru- 
ary lo,  1770,  at  which  date  the  regiment  was  doing  garri- 
son duty  in  Ireland  under  the  command  of  Colonel  John 
Toovey,  an  officer  of  distinction  in  the  British  army.  In 
this  capacity  he  served  until  April  i,  1773,  when  he  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant,  which  was  his  rank 
when  hostilities  commenced  between  Great  Britain  and  her 
North  American  colonies.  On  the  4th  of  April,  1776,  Digby 
embarked  from  Ireland  with  his  regiment  under  Major- 
"eral  Burgoyne  for  the  relief  of  Quebec,  and  shared  in 
'  e  perils  attendant  upon  the  expulsion  of  the  Americans 
from  Canada  during  that  year ;  and  through  the  winter 
which  followed  was  stationed  at  Chambly.     In  the  spring 


Introduction. 


Vll 


of  1777,  the  four  ffank  companies  of  the  Fifty-third  Regi- 
ment were  selected  to  accompany  Burgoyne's  expedition 
to  reduce  the  colonists  into  submission  to  the  British  crown, 
the  eight  battalion  companies  being  left  behind  to  protect 
Canada  against  another  invasion.  These  companies  were  sub- 
sequently employed  by  Burgoyne  to  garrison  Ticonderoga ; 
but  Digby  followed  the  fortunes  of  his  general  through  that 
trying  campaign,  which  ended  in  the  surrender  of  the  Brit- 
ish army  of  invasion  to  the  Americans  at  Saratoga.  Digby 
was  among  the  paroled  officers,  but  unfortunately  has  left 
us  no  account  of  his  experiences  after  the  surrender.  From 
the  time  when  he  signed  the  parole  at  Cambridge,  he  dis- 
appears from  view  until  the  loth  of  August,  1785,  —  some 
time  after  the  acknowledgment  by  Great  Britain  of  Ameri- 
can independence  —  at  which  date  his  regiment  was  still 
doing  garrison  duty  in  Canada,  when  we  find  him  retiring 
on  half  pay,  "  by  exchange  receiving  the  difference,"  and, 
on  March  i,  1786,  he  appears,  by  record  of  the  War  Office, 
under  the  title  of  lieutenant,  "  by  exchange,  repaying  the 
difference."  On  the  twenty-second  of  the  same  month  he 
is  recorded  as  having  retired.  This  is  the  last  glimpse  we 
have  of  our  journalist.  Of  the  Journal  itself,  I  can  say  but 
little.  It  is  not  an  original  kept  during  the  campaign,  but 
a  compilation  made  by  the  author,  undoubtedly,  as  he  says, 
for  the  partial  eye  of  a  friend.  My  copy  was  made  by  a 
scribe  recommended  to  me  at  the  Museum,  and  was  com- 
pared with  the  original  by  Mr.  Kensington,  who  pronounced 
it  correct.  It  has  been  printed  verbatim  et  literatim^  except 
that  I  have  introduced  capitals  in  some  instances  where 
they  seemed  necessary,  and  have  corrected  the  spelling  of 
two  or  three  words,  which  I  believe  have  been  errors  of  the 
scribe  growing  out  of  obscure  writing,  as  Livingstone  for 
Levestoe,  and  Ticonderoga  for  Ticonderago.  I  have  also 
added  to  the  punctuation  and  have  placed  a  few  words  in 


'^# 


,/ " 


VUl 


Introduction. 


\ 


brackets  to  clear  up  apparent  ambiguities  of  meaning.  I 
regret  having  been  unable  to  correct  proof  by  the  original 
manuscript,  as  this  is  the  only  proper  way  to  secure  verbal 
accuracy,  but  I  trust  that  no  material  errors  will  be  found 
in  the  work. 


^Mz/;^^^jz^  (^^^?^^^, 


6i  Deering  St.,  Portland,  Maine,  November  i,  1887. 


THE  CAMPAIGNS  OF  CARLETON  AND 
BURGOYNE  FROM  CANADA. 

1776    AND     1777. 


I 


|HE  author  of  the  following  journal,  William 
Digby,  lieutenant  of  the  53rd  Regiment 
of  British  Grenadiers,  had  passed  into 
oblivion  and  the  stream  of  memory  would  never 
Jiave  brought  us  any  tidings  of  him,  had  not  this 
waif,  surviving  the  vicissitudes  and  perils  to  which 
it  must  have  been  exposed  for  more  than  a  century, 
brought  to  hand  enough  to  enable  us  to  mentally 
outline  the  man  and  partially  estimate  his  character. 
That  his  was  a  manly  spirit  guided  by  an  unswerving 
instinct  of  justice ;  devoted  to  duty  and  singularly 
free  from  that  undue  proneness  to  criticism  of  those 
above  him  so  common  to  men  in  conditions  similar 
to  those  in  which  he  found  himself  during  the  disas- 
trous campaign  of  General  Burgoyne,  all  will  be  ready 
to  admit  after  perusing  his  journal,  and  though  we 


2       The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Btirgoyne. 


may  know  nothing  of  his  family  tree,  of  the  time  or 
place  of  his  coming  or  going,  or  indeed  of  any  sub- 
sequent events  of  his  life,  we  shall  regard  him  with 
confidence  and  respect.  The  regiment  of  which 
Digby  was  lieutenant  was  organized  in  1755,'  at  a 
time  when  the  French  with  their  savage  Indian  allies 
were  attacking  the  American  frontier  settlements, 
rendering  a  war  between  the  mother  country  and 
France  unavoidable. 

At  the  time  of  its  formation  it  was  called  the 
55th,  but  Governor  Shirley""  of  Massachusetts,  and 
Sir  William  Pepperell^  had  each  formed  a  regiment 
called  respectively  the  50th  and  51st,  which  after  the 
war  were  disbanded,  and  the  gap  was  closed  by 
lowering  the  nur^bers  of  the  regiments  above  them, 
by  which  the  55th  became  the  53rd.  At  the  time 
when  the  English  colonies  in  America  were  demand- 
ing from  the  home  government  what  they  conceived 
to  be  their  rights,  the  53rd  was  garrisoned  in  Ire- 
land, from  whence  it  was  ordered  to  Canada  to  take 


^  Vide  Historical  Record  of  the  53rd  Regiment  (Cannon), 
London,  1834.  The  uniform  of  the  regiment  was:  "Cocked 
hats ;  red  coats  faced  with  red,  lined  with  yellow  and  orna- 
mented with  yellow  lace ;  red  waistcoats  and  breeches  and 
white  gaiters." 

^  William  Shirley  was  governor  of  Massachusetts  from 
1 741  to  1756,  and  was  prominent  in  the  war  with  the 
French. 

'  Sir  William  Pepperell  was  a  colonel  of  militia,  and  dis- 
tinguished himself  at  the  siege  of  Louisburg  in  1745,  for 
which  he  received  the  order  of  Knighthood.  He  died  in 
1759.     Vide  Life  of,  by  Parsons,  London,  1856. 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Bnrgoync.       3 

part  in  that  momentous  drama,  the  first  scene  of 
which  had  opened  in  the  quiet  rural  village  of 
Lexington.  The  troops  sailed  from  Ireland  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  successes  which  the  American 
arms  had  achieved  in  Canada,  expecting  indeed  to 
learn  on  their  arrival  that  Quebec  had  fallen  into 
the  possession  of  Montgomery,  but  with  antici- 
pation of  a  speedy  subjugation  of  their  despised 
antagonists,  whose  commander  the  aristocratic  sup- 
porters of  royalty  designated  as  Mister,^  declining  to 
recognize  his  title  of  general,  and  regarding  those 
who  had  taken  up  arms  in  defense  of  their  rights  a 
lawless  rabble,  ignorant  of  civilized  warfare.^     The 

*Lord  George  Germaine,  the  British  minister,  persisted  in 
his  correspondence  with  Howe  and  others  in  designating 
General  Washington  as  **  Mr.,"  and  this  example  of  his 
superior  the  British  commander  felt  bound  to  follow.  He 
therefore  addressed  his  first  letter  to  Mr.  Washington, 
which  the  latter  declined  to  receive,  and  Howe  returned 
it  by  Colonel  Patterson,  one  of  his  officers,  addressed  to 
George  Washington,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.  Washington  took  no 
notice  of  the  insult,  but  stated  that  he  declined  to  receive 
"any  letter  directed  to  him  as  a  private  person  when  it 
related  to  his  public  station."  Colonel  Patterson  pointed 
out  that  "etc.,  etc.,  etc."  implied  all  the  titles  which  he 
might  choose  to  claim,  and  ended  by  verbally  conveying 
to  him  the  contents  of  Howe's  letter.  This  folly  was  not 
long  persisted  in  by  General  Howe,  who  although  he  had 
declared  that  he  would  acknowledge  "  no  rank  but  that 
conferred  by  the  king,"  found  himself  obliged  to  recognize 
Washington  by  his  appropriate  title  if  he  would  hold  com- 
munication with  him.  Vide  Sparks'  Life,  Appendix  No.  i. 
Vol.  IV. 

*  Not  only  were  they  characterized  as  lawless  and  igno- 
rant, but  as  full  of  all  iniquity.     General  Gage  wrote  on 


4       The  Campaigns  of  Carleion  aud  Burgoyne. 

expedition,  consisting  of  fifty-four  transport  ships 
and  convoyed  by  two  men  of  war,  sailed  from  Cork 
in  April,  1776,  the  troops  being  under  the  charge  of 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Fraser,  who  ended  his  career  in 
the  campaign  of  the  next  year  with  so  many  others 
of  his  brave  companions.  Leaving  these  troops  to 
pursue  their  voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  we  will 
glance  retrospectively  at  the  progress  of  events 
during  the  preceding  year.  The  battles  of  Lexing- 
ton and  Bunker  Hill  had  disclosed  to  the  king  and 
his  ministers  the  unpleasant  fact,  that  they  had  been 
at  fault  in  supposing  that  Englishmen  in  America 
would  give  way  at  once  upon  the  appearance  of 
regular  troops,  a  fallacy  which  they  had  hitherto 
indulged,  and  they  began  to  awaken  to  the  unpleas- 
ant prospect  of  a  prolonged  conflict,  concerning  the 
outcome  of  which,  there  was  among  thoughtful  men 
a  diversity  of  opinion. 

What  made  it  the  more  embarrassing  to  the 
British  government  was  the  opposition  of  its  peo- 
ple at  home  to  the  war.     The  principle  for  which 

July  24,  1775  :  "A  Pamphlet  published  by  the  Continental 
Congress,  called  a  Declaration  of  the  United  Colonies,  has 
been  sent  in  from  the  Rebel  Camp,  copies  of  which  will  no 
doubt  be  sent  to  England  from  Philadelphia.  They  pay 
little  regard  to  facts,  for  the  Contents  of  it  is  as  replete  with 
Deceit  and  Falsehood  as  most  of  their  Publications;"  and, 
again,  "  Mr.  Washington,  who  commands  the  Rebel  Army, 
has  written  to  me  on  the  subject  of  the  treatment  of  the 
Rebel  Prisoners  in  our  custody.  I  understand  they  make 
war  like  Savages,  capitivating  women  and  children."  Vide 
Correspondence  in  Public  Records'  Office,  London. 


The  Campaigns  of  Carlcton  and  Burgoyne.       5 

the  colonists  had  taken  arms  was  a  popular  one, 
and  a  powerful  party  in  England  warmly  espoused 
it.  When  the  determination  of  the  government  to 
subjugate  the  colonists  by  force  of  arms  became 
known,  the  ministry  was  bombarded  with  petitions 
from  every  part  of  the  kingdom.  These  petitions 
set  forth  all  the  arguments  against  the  course  deter- 
mined upon  which  ingenuity  could  devise.  Many 
even  of  the  first  officers  in  the  army  threw  up  their 
commissions,  declaring  that  they  would  not  serve  in 
such  a  war  against  their  own  countrymen.  But  the 
sluggish  spirit  of  George  the  Third  was  thoroughly 
aroused  against  his  unruly  subjects,  and  he  was 
stubbornly  deaf  to  arguments  in  their  favor  how- 
ever reasonable  they  might  be.  He  was  fully  bent 
upon  chastising  them  into  submission,  and  was  hotly 
seconded  by  his  ministers.  But  the  conditions  exist- 
ing in  the  two  countries  were  quite  dissimilar.  In 
the  colonies  the  people  freely  offered  their  lives  and 
fortunes  to  the  common  cause,  and  multitudes  gath- 
ered under  the  new  flag,  animated  with  hope  and 
with  a  fixed  determination  never  to  yield  their 
rights,  while  in  England  on  the  contrary,  the  un- 
popularity of  the  war  rendered  enlistments  on  a  large 
scale  impossible.  Though  unusual  bounties  were 
offered,  enlistments  proceeded  so  slowly  that  the 
king  found  it  necessary  to  look  across  the  channel 
for  aid.  He  applied  to  Catherine  of  Russia  to  lend 
him  some  of  her  battalions,  but  was  met  with  a  tart 


■■^1    H  < 


=^ 


!i! 


6       T/ie  Canipaiirns  of  Carlctoji  and  Buri^oync. 

refusal;''  to  Holland,  which  turned  an  indifferent 
ear  to  his  appeal,  and  finally  to  Germany  with 
better  success. 

The  petty  sovereigns  of  this  country  to  their 
eternal  disg^race,  loaned  for  hire  seventeen  thousand 
of  their  people  to  the  British  king,  as  they  doubtless 
would  have  loaned  them  to  the  colonists  had  they 
sought  them  with  a  larger  price.  When  it  became 
known  in  England  that  the  king  had  hired  German 
troops  in  order  to  subjugate  their  countrymen  in 
America,  a  considerable  portion  of  the  English  peo- 
ple raised  their  voices  against  the  act.  They  saw  in 
it  perhaps,  the  possibility  of  an  abridgment  of 
their  own  liberties  by  similar  means.  But  the  king 
was  delighted  with  the  new  acquisitions  to  his 
forces ;  indeed,  he  regarded  them  with  greater  com- 
placency than  he  regarded  his  own  more  thoughtful 
subjects.     Their  stolid  minds  were  not  agitated  with 

•"'George  the  Third,  when  he  applied  to  Catherine  of  Rus- 
sia for  twenty  thousand  of  her  subjects  to  employ  against  the 
colonies,  gallantly  left  her  to  fix  her  own  compensation;  but 
she  refused  his  application  with  so  much  spirit,  that  the  king 
in  a  letter  to  Lord  North  said,  that  some  of  her  expressions 
might  "  be  civil  to  a  Russian  ear,  but  certainly  not  to  more 
civilized  ones."  Horace  Walpole  took  delight  in  ridiculing 
the  king  for  his  correspondence  with  "  Sister  Kitty."  Schiller 
thus  holds  up  the  German  sovereign  to  public  view.  After 
speaking  of  the  objections  which  some  of  the  soldiers  made 
to  being  sold  for  the  American  war,  he  continues :  "  Our 
gracious  sovereign  paraded  the  troops  and  had  the  chatter- 
ing fools  shot  then  and  there.  We  heard  the  crack  of  the 
muskets,  we  saw  their  brains  sprinkled  against  the  wall,  and 
then  the  rest  shouted,  '  Hurrah  for  America!*  " 


iM 


The  Campaigns  of  Carlcton  and  Biirgoyne,       7 

theories  of  human  rights,  and  their  sympathies 
would  not  be  with  a  people  whose  manners  were 
to  them  an  offense,  and  whose  language  a  mystery  ; 
hence  there  could  be  no  fear  that  they  would  desert 
to  the  Americans  as  some  of  the  English  levies 
might.  The  employment  of  these  hirelings  against 
the  colonists  was  abhorrent  to  many  bf  the  English 
people;'  but  the  employment  of  the  savage  Indian 
tribes  against  them  was  still  more  so,  and  this 
feeling  was  shared  even  by  the  British  commanders 
themselves.  But  England  possessed  a  monarch 
incapable  of  listening  to  reason  where  his  prejudices 
were  opposed,  and  a  ministry  whose  incapacity  has 
perhaps  never  been  equaled.  The  harshest  meas- 
ures were  blindly  resolved  upon,  and  it  was  deter- 
mined to  crush  out  the  rebellion  before  it  could 
gather  more  strength,  or  engage  the  sympathy  of 
France,  who  was  watching  the  struggle  with  keen 
satisfaction,  not  a  satisfaction  in  which  sympathy 
for  the  oppressed  colonists  found  a  place,  as  it 
was  but  the  preposterous  struggle  of  the  canaille 
against  the  noblesse ;  but  a  satisfaction  which  would 
be  intensified  if,  peradventure,  both  combatants 
should    be   so   weakened   as    to    make    it    possible 

^Chatham,  Burke  and  others  denounced  the  employment 
of  the  savages  in  the  most  ardent  manner.  We  are  told  that 
the  vehemence  of  the  latter  caused  tears  of  laughter  to  roll 
"  down  the  fat  cheeks  of  Lord  North  at  hearing  an  absent 
man  denounced  for  measures  for  which  he  himself  was  mainly 
and  directly  responsible."  Vide  Fonblanque's  Life  of  Bur- 
goyne,  London,  1856,  p.  243,  n. 


1.1'- 


^ 

.'                              a 

!i            1 

'1 

8       T/ic  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

for  her  to  again   found  her  imperium   in  the  new 
world. 

How  was  it  with  the  Americans?  Hopeful  of  suc- 
cess they  had  assumed  the  offensive  and  had  made 
their  triumphant  way  into  Canada :  Montgomery 
pushing  through  the  lake  region  of  northern  New 
York,  and  Arn'bld  through  the  wilderness  of  Maine, 
finally  joined  their  forces  together  in  the  heart  of  the 
enemy's  country.  Stronghold  after  stronghold  fell 
before  the  invaders,  until  at  last,  the  British  General 
Carleton  fleeing  to  escape  capture  in  the  habiliments 
of  a  peasant,  took  refuge  in  the  fortress  of  Quebec, 
under  whose  walls  the  victorious  Americans  encamped, 
confident  of  conquering  the  last  remnant  of  King 
George's  troops  left  on  the  soil  of  Canada.  This  was 
the  condition  of  affairs  iii  December,  1775,  while  the 
king  was  drumming  up  reluctant  recruits  in  England, 
and  negotiating  for  others  with  his  brother  despots 
on  the  continent,  as  before  stated.  But  a  Canadian 
winter  was  upon  Montgomery ;  disease  and  exposure 
were  wasting  his  army,  and  somethiiig  had  to  be  done. 
The  darkest  and  shortest  days  of  winter  came,  and 
an  attack,  one  of  the  most  daring  in  the  annals  of 
arms,  was  made  upon  Quebec.  Montgomery,  whose 
intrepid  spirit  had  never  forecast  failure,  and  whose 
presence  alone  gave  animation  to  the  enterprise,  fell 
with  many  of  his  no  less  brave  compatriots,  and  beaten 
back,  shattered  but  not  disheartened,  the  Americans 
sullenly  sat  down  before  the  walls  of  the  city,  repaired 
as  well  as  they  couH  their  sore  damage,  and  laid 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.       9 

out  new  schemes  for  the  discomfiture  of  their 
enemies.  Arnold  was  in  command,  a  man  perhaps 
no  less  daring  nor  less  fruitful  in  expedients  than 
Montgomery,  and  as  spring  advanced,  he  prepared 
for  a  final  attack  upon  Carleton.  His  batteries 
commanded  the  river,  his  red-hot  shot  were  thrown 
into  the  c'^^y,  but  disease  was  at  work  in  his  army  to 
which  few  recruits  found  their  way.  In  the  beginning 
of  May,  Thomas,®  who  had  been  assigned  to  the 
chief  command,  arrived,  and  while  he  was  consid- 
ering the  question  of  raising  the  siege,  the  advance 
ships  of  the  fleet  which  had  sailed  from  Ireland  in 
April  came  in  sight,  and  leaving  behind  every  thing 
which  could  incumber  his  retreat,  he  at  once  hastened 
to  abandon  his  position,  followed  by  Carleton 
with  reinforcements  from  the  fleet.  Although  the 
Americans  stubbornly  contested  their  ground,  as 
may  be  seen  by  a  perusal  of  this  journal  penned  by 

^General  John  Thomas  was  from  Plymouth,  Massachu- 
setts, where  his  descendants  still  reside.  He,  like  Mont- 
gomery, had  seen  service  in  the  French  and  Indian  wars. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  war,  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  raise 
a  regiment,  with  which  he  joined  the  Continental  army  at 
Roxbury  in  1775.  He  was  appointed  one  of  the  first  briga- 
dier-generals, and  commanded  a  division  at  the  siege  of 
Boston.  He  was  appointed  a  major-general  in  March,  1776, 
and  in  the  following  May  joined  the  army  before  Quebec, 
but  was  attacked  by  the  small-pox,  which  prevailed  among 
the  troops,  shortly  after  his  arrival  in  camp,  and  died  at 
Chambly  on  the  2d  of  June.  He  was  a  man  of  ability  and 
greatly  esteemed  by  his  soldiers.  Washington  placed  con- 
fidence in  him,  and  believed  that  he  would  accomplish  much 
for  the  American  cause. 

■      t     .  ..         .       ■  ■ 


lo     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

an  unfriendly  but  just  spirit,  they  were  forced  back 
by  the  superior  strength  of  the  British  with  their 
German  and  Indian  allies.  These  divided  into  t'vo 
parts,  one  under  Carleton,  who  followed  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  Montreal  to  attack  Arnold,  who  held 
that  place,  and  the  other  under  Burgoyne,  who 
pressed  on  toward  Fort  St.  Johns,  forcing  back  Sul- 
livan' to  that  point. 

Here  however,  Arnold,  who  had  retreated  before 
Carleton,  was  enabled  to  form  a  junction  with  Sul- 
livan ;   but  the  two  generals  seeing  how  useless  it 

^John  Sullivan  was  of  Irish  parentage  and  a  native  of 
Berwick,  Maine.  He  was  born  February  17,  1740,  and  was 
reared  on  a  farm,  but  upon  reaching  maturity  studied  law 
and  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Durham,  New 
Hampshire.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  first  Continental 
Congress.  When  the  Continental  army  was  organized  in 
1775,  he  was  appointed  a  brigadier-general,  and  the  follow- 
ing year  was  made  a  major-general.  He  was  assigned  to 
the  command  left  vacant  by  the  death  of  General  Thomas,  and 
shortly  after  took  the  place  of  General  Greene  on  Long 
Island.  In  the  battle  which  took  place  there  in  August  of  the 
same  year  (1776)  he  was  taken  prisoner,  but  was  soon 
exchanged,  when  he  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  General 
Charles  Lee's  division  in  New  Jersey,  Lee  having  been  taken 
prisoner.  He  participated  in  the  battles  of  Brandywine  and 
Germantown,  and  soon  after  was  assigned  to  the  command 
of  the  Rhode  Island  troops.  He  was  engaged,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1778,  in  the  unsuccessful  siege  of  Newport,  and  the 
next  year  ended  his  military  career  in  an  expedition  against 
the  Indians.  Owing  to  some  difficulty  with  the  board  of 
war,  he  resigned  his  commission  in  1779.  He  was  after 
this,  a  member  of  Congress  and  president  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  in  1789,  received  the  appointment  of  district 
judge,  an  office  which  he  retained  until  his  death,  January 

23,  1795. 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    1 1 


was  to  attempt  to  withstand  the  onset  of  forces 
so  much  superior  to  their  own,  determined  to  fall 
back  upon  Crown  Point  and  there  make  a  final 
stand.  This  determination  they  acted  upon,  leaving 
the  enemy  to  pursue  them  as  best  they  might — a 
problem  difficult  of  solution.  In  order  to  make  an 
attack  upon  the  Americans  likely  to  be  attended 
with  success,  vessels  were  requisite,  and  these  must 
be  provided.  With  commendable  energy,  Carleton 
at  once  set  about  improvising  a  navy,  and  by  the 
5th  of  October  had  constructed  and  equipped  a 
fleet  of  one  ship,  two  schooners,  one  radeau,'°  one 
gondola,"  and  twenty-two  gunboats  with  eighty-seven 
guns.  Some  of  these  vessels  had  been  transported 
in  pieces  from  Chambly  to  Fort  St.  Johns  and  there 
put  together.  Being  now  ready,  Carleton  proceeded 
with  his  fleet  up  the  Sorel  to  Isle  aux  Noix  at  the 
entrance  to  the  lake.  He  was  now  in  a  condition 
to  attack  the  Americans  with  a  good  prospect  of 
success,  as  he  knew  the  force  which  they  possessed 
was  inferior  to  his.  The  fleet  to  be  opposed  to  him 
had  three  more  guns  but  of  much   lighter  caliber 


'"The  word  radeau  is  equivalent  to  the  English  raft. 
The  radeau  was  the  prototype  of  the  modern  floating  bat- 
tery, having  low  but  strong  bulwarks  to  protect  the  men 
handling  the  guns,  which  were  usually  of  heavy  caliber.  It 
was  a  cumbersome  craft  to  manage,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
effective. 

"  A  gondola  was  quite  unlike  its  Venetian  namesake,  being 
a  large  flat-bottomed  affair  with  square  ends,  and  having  a 
large  capacity  for  carrying. 


T  2     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

and  was  inferior  in  other  respects.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  nth  of  October,  accompanied  by  a  large 
number  of  savages  in  their  birchen  canoes,  some 
of  which  were  of  immense  size,  capable  of  carrying 
thirty  men,  Carleton  moved  upon  the  American  fleet 
which,  in  command  of  Benedict  Arnold,  was  drawn 
up  in  the  form  of  a  crescent  between  Valcour  island 
and  the  mainland.  A  battle  ensued,  which  was  con- 
tes*-ed  with  spirit  on  both  sides,  but  the  tide  of 
affairs  with  the  Americans  was  at  ebb,  and  when 
night  fell  they  found  themselves  in  no  condition  to 
continue  the  fight  on  the  following  day ;  hence  in 
the  darkness  of  the  night,  they  passed  unperceived 
through  the  British  fleet  and  made  all  the  speed 
possible  to  reach  Crown  Point,  hoping  that  with  the 
guns  of  that  fortress  joined  with  those  of  the  fleet, 
they  might  counterbalance  the  superior  force  of  the 
enemy.  When  in  the  morning,  Carleton  found  that 
Arnold  had  eluded  him,  he  followed  in  pursuit,  and 
succeeded  after  a  fierce  battle  in  destroying  and  dis- 
persing the  American  fleet.  Nothing  now  remained 
for  him  to  do  but  to  push  on  to  Crown  Point.  This 
he  did  as  quickly  as  possible,  but  the  Americans  had 
evacuated  their  works  there  and  fallen  back  upon 
Ticonderoga,  which  they  put  into  a  good  condition 
for  defense  before  he  was  able  to  make  an  attack 
upon  them  in  their  new  position.  The  season  was 
advancing,  and  perhaps  yielding  a  too-ready  ear 
to  the  dictates  of  prudence,  instead  of  following  up 
his  advantage  and  risking  an  attack  upon   Ticon- 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. '   1 3 

deroga,  which  if  successful  might  have  changed  the 
issue  of  the  war,"  he  resolved  to  proceed  no  farther, 
but  to  withdraw  his  army  to  winter  quarters.  Thus 
closed  the  campaign  of  '76,  disastrous  and  disheart- 
ening to  the  American  patriots. 

General  Carleton,  having  withdrawn  his  army  from 
Crown  Point,  and  stationed  portions  of  it  at  Isle  aux 
Noix,  St.  Johns,  Montreal,  and  other  points  in  the  prov- 
ince, went  himself  to  Quebec  where  his  family  was 
domiciled,  while  General  Burgoyne  sailed  for  England 
to  make  preparations  for  the  campaign  of  '']'],  which 
would,  it  was  confidently  believed  by  the  British  gene- 
rals, terminate  the  war.  The  winter  passed  pleasantly 
enough  with  the  British  troops,  who  found  plenty  to 
amuse  them,  but  with  the  Americans  quite  differ- 
ently. The  latter  looked  forward  with  anxiety  to 
the  coming  campaign,  and  labored  to  put  themselves 
in  a  condition  to  meet  it  successfully.  They  suffered 
privations  and  hardships  innumerable,  but  having 
put  hand  to  plow  thought  not  to  look  back. 
Doubtless  they  often  longed  for  the  comforts  which 


^- "  Lord  George  Germaine  sought  in  this  delay  an  excuse 
for  venting  his  rancor  against  General  Carleton,  but  the 
king,  in  spite  of  the  powerful  influence  which  the  minister 
exercised  over  his  mind,  defended  his  officer,  for  on  the 
17th  November  he  writes  to  Lord  North,  '  Sir  Guy  Carleton 
gives  sufficient  reasons  for  not  earlier  attempting  to  pass 
the  lakes.'  "  He  has  been,  however,  severely  criticised  by 
writers  for  abandoning  Crown  Point,  which  would  have 
afforded  him  an  advanced  starting  point  for  the  next  cam- 
paign. Vide  Fonblanque's  Life  of  Burgoyne,  n.  p.  217 
et  seq.,  and  General  Phillips'  Letter,  ibid. 


14     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 


they  had  once  enjoyed  —  the  leeks  and  garlics  which 
they  had  forsaken  to  attain  freedom  —  but  they  had 
in  Washington  a  Moses  in  whom  they  confided,  and 
they  repined  not  over  much.  So  the  winter  passed. 
Burgoyne  in  England  with  the  ministers  of  the  irate 
king,  laid  out  an  elaborate  plan  for  the  coming  cam- 
paign. The  New  England  provinces  were  to  be 
violently  dissevered  from  the  western  and  southern 
by  two  armies,  which  were  to  serve  as  opposite 
wedges ;  the  northern  wedge  to  be  directed  by  Bur- 
goyne, the  southern  by  Howe,  and  the  two  lines  of 
fracture  to  meet  at  Albany  in  the  State  of  New 
York.  It  was  an  excellent  plan,  and  to  any  but  an 
omniscient  eye  would  have  appeared  to  be  almost 
certain  of  success.  General  Burgoyne  arrived  at 
Quebec  on  the  6th  of  May,  and  on  the  loth.  Gene- 
ral Carleton,  who  was  to  remain  in  Canada  as  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  Canadian  department,  for 
which  reinforcements  were  on  the  way,  passed  over 
to  him  in  accordance  with  orders  from  England,  the 
command  of  about  seven  thousand  troops.  Germaine 
had  written  him  under  date  of  Whitehall,  the  26th 
of  the  preceding  March :  "  With  a  view  of  quell- 
"  ing  the  rebellion  as  soon  as  possible,  it  is  become 
"highly  necessary  that  the  most  speedy  juncture  of 
"the  two  armies  should  be  effected  ;  and,  therefore, 
**  as  the  security  and  good  government  of  Canada 
"  absolutely  require  your  command  for  the  defense 
"  and  duties  of  that  province,  you  are  to  employ  the 
"  remainder  of  your  army  upon  two  expeditions  ;  the 


I 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.     15 

"  one  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant-General  Bur- 
"  goy"G»  who  is  to  force  his  way  to  Albany,  and  the 
"  other  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  St. 
"  Leger,  who  is  to  make  a  diversion  on  the  Mohawk 
"  river."'^  Upon  receiving  his  command,  Burgoyne 
at  once  proceeded  to  Montreal  and  began  putting 
things  in  readiness  to  carry  out  this  plan,  so  far  as  it 
related  to  the  movement  from  the  north  which  had 
been  intrusted  to  him,  writing  to  Germaine  on  the 
19th  of  May  :  "  The  only  delay  in  putting  the  troops 
in  motion  is  occasioned  by  the  impracticability  of 
the  roads,  owing  to  late  extraordinary  heavy  rains, 
and  this  difficulty  will  be  speedily  removed  by  exert- 
ing the  services  of  the  parishes  as  soon  as  the  weather 
clears.  In  the  mean  time,  I  am  employing  every 
means  that  water  carriage  will  admit  for  drawing  the 
troops  and  stores  toward  this  point.  I  trust  I  shall 
have  vessels  sufficient  to  move  the  army  and  stores 
together,  and,  in  that  case,  will  take  post  at  once 
within  sight  of  TIconderoga,  and  only  make  use  of 
Crown  Point  for  my  hospital  and  magazine.  It  is 
consigned  to  the  New  England  colonies  to  furnish 
supplies  of  men  and  provision  to  oppose  the  progress 
ol  my  army,  and  they  have  undertaken  the  task, 
upon  condition  of  being  exempt  from  supplying  Mr. 
Washington's  main  army."'* 


^'  Vide  A  State  of  the  Expedition  from  Canada.    London, 
1780.     Appendix  IV,  p.  vii. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  xi. 


^amz-- 


■!    ■  • 


;i   .' 


1 6     T/ie  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

This  letter  serves  as  a  prelude  to  that  momentous 
drama,  which  Burgoyne  has  himself  conveniently 
divided  for  us  into  three  acts  ;  a  drama  which  all 
Europe  watched  with  intense  curiosity,  and  which 
for  a  century  has  been  discussed  with  unflagging 
interest.  The  first  act  of  this  great  drama  opens 
on  the  1 2th  of  June  at  St.  Johns,  on  the  eve  of  the 
embarkation  of  Burgoyne's  army.  Nothing  which 
could  promote  its  efficiency  in  the  projected  cam- 
paign had  been  i^glected.  Its  equipment,  which  was 
lavish,  included  the  most  approved  artillery  of  the 
age,  and  inspired  with  the  confidence  of  success  it 
awaited  the  order  of  its  commander  to  embark. 
Carleton,  with  that  amiable  generosity  which  charac- 
terized him,  had  come  to  St.  Johns  to  bid  his  old 
comrades  in  arms  a  god-speed :  an  abundant  feast 
had  been  prepared,  and  for  the  last  time  Burgoyne, 
Riedesel,  Acland,  Fraser,  Phillips,  Carleton,  Bal- 
carres  and  others  of  like  bravery,  who  had  passed 
thus  far  unharmed  through  many  battles,  gathered 
around  the  social  board  in  joyous  good-fellowship. 
After  the  repast  to  which  wine  and  wit  gave  a 
keener  zest,  Carleton  bade  them  an  affectionate  but 
enthusiastic  good-bye,  and  with  his  staff  took  the 
return  road  to  his  head-quarters  at  Quebec,  while 
the  first  brigade  of  the  army  soon  began  its  embark- 
ation, their  martial  ardor  being  inspired  by  the 
stirring  strains  of  the  regimental  bands,  and  the 
awe-inspiring  thunder  of  artillery  as  they  marched 
to  their  boats.     Both  the  English  troops  and  their 


It 


ii    ! 


f ■:; 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.     17 

German  allies  were  trained  soldiers  in  every  sense, 
men  who  could  march  up  to  the  cannon's  mouth 
without  flinching,  and  they  made  a  gala  occasion  of 
their  embarkation  on  this,  the  most  perilous  expe- 
dition which  they  had  ever  undertaken.  Burgoyne 
had  divided  his  army  into  brigades,  and  its  progress 
up  the  lake  was  at  the  rate  of  about  twenty  miles  a 
day,  every  thing  being  ordered  with  such  exactness, 
that  each  brigade  occupied  at  night  the  camp  left 
by  its  predecessor  at  daybreak.  Anburey,'^  whose 
descriptions  are  so  graphic,  wrote  of  the  splendid 
spectacle  which  Burgoyne's  army  offered  to  the 
beholder  as  it  floated  on  the  placid  bosom  of  the 
lake :  "  I  cannot  forbear  portraying  to  your  imagi- 
nation one  of  the  most  pleasing  spectacles  I  ever 
beheld.  When  we  were  in  the  widest  part  of  the 
lake,  whose  beauty  and  extent  I  have  already  de- 
scribed, it  was  remarkably  fine  and  clear,  not  a 
breeze  was  stirring,  when  the  whole  army  appeared 
at  one  view  in  such  perfect  regularity  as  to  form  the 
most  complete  and  splendid  regatta  you  can  possibly 
conceive.     In  the  front  the  Indians  went  with  their 


'*  Thomas  Anburey  was  a  volunteer  in  Burgoyne's  army, 
and  was  the  author  of  a  book  entitled  Travels  through  the 
Interior  Parts  of  America,  in  a  Series  of  Letters,  By  an 
Officer.  It  was  published  in  London  in  1789,  and  a  second 
edition  appeared  in  1791.  It  was  translated  into  German 
and,  in  1793,  into  French,  with  annotations  by  M.  Noel,  ancien 
professeur  de  belles-lettres  au  College  de  Louis-le-Grand. 
Anburey  remained  a  prisoner  with  the  captive  army  until 
September,  1781,  when  he  returned  to  England. 

3 


1 8     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne, 

birch  bark  canoes,  containing  twenty  or  thirty  each ; 
then  the  advanced  corps  in  regular  line  with  the 
gunboats;  then  followed  the  Royal  George  and 
Inflexible,  towing  large  booms  —  which  are  to  be 
thrown  across  two  points  of  land — with  the  two 
brigs  and  sloops  following;  after  them  Generals 
Burgoyne,  Phillips  and  Riedesel  in  their  pinnaces ; 
next  to  them  the  second  battalion  followed  by  the 
German  battalion,  and  the  rear  was  brought  up 
with  the  suttlers  and  followers  of  the  army.  Upon 
the  appearance  of  so  formidable  a  fleet  you  may 
imagine  they  were  not  a  little  dismayed  at  Ticon- 
deroga,  for  they  were  apprised  of  our  advance  as 
we  every  day  could  see  their  watch-boats."'^ 

At  this  moment  let  us  pause  to  take  a  view  of  the 
theatre  of  action.  While  Burgoyne  is  advancing 
easily  toward  Crown  Point,  which  Carleton  had 
abandoned  the  previous  autumn,  and  which  the 
Americans  have  since  neglected,  St.  Leger,  who  has 
been  detached  from  Burgoyne's  command  with  a 
thousand  men  which  he  soon  increases  to  seven- 
teen hundred,  is  quietly  sweeping  round  by  the  St. 
Lawrence,  Lakes  Ontario  and  Oneida,  toward  Fort 
Schuyler,  and  after  destroying  all  obstacles  which 
oppose  him,  is  to  join  his  chief  at  Albany,  the  ob- 
jective point  of  Burgoyne's  expedition  and  that  to  be 
sent  by  Howe  from  the  south  to  act  in  concert  with  it. 
On  the  American  side,  the  army  under  the  command  of 

^®  Vide  Travels  Through  the  Interior  Parts  of  American 
London.     1789.    Vol.  i,  pp.  303-6. 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.     19 

General  Schuyler  is  posted  at  the  several  forts  about 
Lake  George  and  along  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk 
rivers:  St.  Clair  is  at  Ticonderoga  ;  General  Ganse- 
V  )ort''  at  Fort  Schuyler,  and  the  commander-in- 
chief  himself  at  Fort  Edward,  while  various  bodies 
of  troops  more  or  less  important,  are  at  other  points 
not  far  distant,  or  drawing  toward  the  expected 
field  of  conflict  with  the  Britons  from  the  North.  If 
we  look  farther  away,  we  shall  find  Howe  and  Clin- 
ton at  New  York,  the  former  instead  of  directing  a 
force  up  the  Hudson  to  co-operate  with  Burgoyne  at 
Albany,  strangely  preparing  an  expedition  against 
Philadelphia,  all  of  his  preparations  being  jealously 
watched  by  Washington,  who  is  planning  to  bafifle 
him  at  every  point.  Without  special  incident  of 
importance,  Burgoyne  arrived  at  Crown  Point  on 
the  29th  of  June,  and  on  the  ist  of  July  his 
army  appeared  in  front  of  Ticonderoga.  On  the 
2d,  Fraser  took  possession  of  a  rise  of  ground 
which  was  named  Mount  Hope,  cutting  off  St.  Clair's 
communication  with  Lake  George,  while  Phillips  and 
Riedesel  advanced,  the  former  taking  position  on  the 
right  and  the  latter  in  front  of  Fort  Independence, 


"  Peter  Gansevoort  was  a  native  of  Albany,  and  born  on 
July  17,  1749.  He  was  a  major  under  Montgomery  in  the 
campaign  against  Canada  in  1775,  and  at  the  time  here 
mentioned  held  a  colonel's  commission.  His  successful 
defense  of  Fort  Schuyler  when  besieged  by  St.  Leger,  gained 
him  the  thanks  of  Congress.  In  1781  he  was  commissioned 
by  the  State  of  New  York  a  brigadier-general.  He  died 
July  2,  1 8 12,  after  an  honorable  and  useful  life. 


20    The  Campaigns  of  Carlcton  and  Bnrgoyne, 

which  formed  a  part  of  that  system  of  defenses  to 
which  Ticonderoga  belonged.  With  inexcusable 
folly,  St.  Clair  had  neglected  to  fortify  a  hill  which 
overlooked  and  commanded  his  position,  and  when 
the  sun  arose  on  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  July,  his 
sentinels  beheld  the  British  in  possession,  planting 
their  batteries  on  its  summit  and  watching  curiously 
his  every  movement  with  their  glasses.'*  Alarmed 
at  this  prospect  a  council  was  summoned,  and  it  was 
resolved  to  abandon  this  important  post  in  which  so 
much  confidence  had  been  placed.  Accordingly, 
St.  Clair  on  the  night  of  the  6th,  fled  in  haste,  not 
even  stopping  to  destroy  his  stores  which  had  been 
collected  at  infinite  pains,  but  leaving  guns,  provisions 
and  cattle  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

The  story  of  this  disastrous  retreat  has  been 
related  too  often  to  be  repeated  here  ;  suffice  it  to  say, 
that  the  loss  of  Ticonderoga  was  a  bitter  one  to  the 
Americans,  and  by  many  was  looked  upon  as  a  vital 
one,  while  in  England  the  news  of  its  capture  was 
received  with  transports  of  joy.     Germaine  with  great 


^^It  would  appear  from  Digby's  Journal  that  the  occupa- 
tion of  this  hill  by  Burgoyne  was  disclosed  during  the 
night  to  St.  Clair,  by  fires  carelessly  built,  presumably  by 
his  Indian  allies.  It  is  remarkable  that  St.  Clair's  retreat 
on  the  next  night  was  disclosed  in  a  like  manner,  by  a  fire 
set  carelessly  at  the  head-quarters  of  General  Roche  De 
Fermoy,  his  French  ally.  Commenting  on  this  latter  inci- 
dent, General  De  Peyster  remarks,  "  that  generally  whenever 
the  Americans  were  unsuccessful,  a  foreigner  was  mixed  up  in 
it."  If  Digby's  presumption  is  correct,  the  English  had  like 
cause  of  complaint. 


I 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne,     21 

complacency  announced  the  event  in  Parliament, 
"  as  if  it  had  been  decisive  of  the  campaign  and 
of  the  fate  of  the  colonies,"  and  King  George  when 
he  heard  of  it  was  so  elated,  that  he  burst  into  the 
apartment  of  the  queer  exclaiming  vociferously, 
"  I  have  beat  them  !  —  beat  all  the  Americans  !"  '' 
Burgoyne  was  triumphant,  and  on  the  loth,  cele- 
brated his  victory  by  a  Thanksgiving,  and  ended 
the  day  with  a  feu  de  joie  of  artillery  at  Crown 
Point,  Ticonderoga,  Skenesborough  and  Castle- 
ton,  and  with  this  dramatic  demonstration  he 
closed  the  first  act  of  his  drama. 

On  the  next  day  he  wrote  to  Germaine.  "  Your 
Lordship  will  pardon  me  if  I  a  little  lament  that  my 
orders  do  not  give  me  the  latitude  I  ventured  to  pro- 
pose in  my  original  project  for  the  campaign,  to  make 
a  real  effort  instead  of  a  feint  upon  New  England. 
As  things  have  turned  out,  were  I  at  liberty  to  march 
in  force  immediately  by  my  left,  instead  of  my  right, 
I  should  have  little  doubt  of  subduing  before  winter 
the  provinces  where  the  rebellion  originated." '° 
Feeling  however  obliged  by  his  orders  to  force  his 
way  to  Albany,  he  applied  to  Carleton  to  spare  him  a 
sufficient  number  of  troops  to  garrison  Ticonderoga, 
so  that  he  might  not  be  obliged  to  weaken  his  forces 
by  leaving  a  portion  behind  for  garrison  duty;  but 


^^  Vide  Journal   of   the    Reign   of   George    the    Third, 
(Walpole)  London,  1859,  vol.  2,  p.  131. 

^  Vide  A  State  of  the  Expedition  from  Canada. 


I 


ill 


n  1 

^1 


M 


(t 


22     TAe  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

Carleton  did  not  entertain  his  application  favorably, 
and  in  spite  of  his  urgent  appeal  for  help,  left  him  to 
solve  the  problem  of  the  campaign  unaided,  as  best 
he  might. 

Preparations  therefore  for  an  advance  were  actively 
undertaken,  but  while  they  were  going  forward 
Schuyler  was  not  idle.  Calm  and  undismayed  by  his 
severe  losses,  he  directed  every  effort  toward  ob- 
structing the  passage  of  his  enemy  southward.  The 
keen  axes  of  his  skillful  woodsmen  soon  laid  the 
forests,  which  bordered  the  road  leading  from  Skenes- 
borough  where  Burgoyne  lay,  across  the  pathway  of 
the  advancing  Britons.  He  destroyed  bridges; 
blocked  water-courses  with  boulders ;  stripped  the 
country  of  subsistence,  and  drove  the  cattle  away 
so  as  to  leave  nothing  to  sustain  the  invaders  on 
their  advance.  Thus  blocking  the  way  between  him 
and  his  enemy,  he  retreated  southward  and  finally 
encamped  his  army  near  the  junction  of  the  Mohawk 
and  Hudson.  Here  with  his  advanced  outposts  at 
Stillwater,  he  awaited  coming  events,  strengthening 
by  every  means  in  his  pov/er  his  slowly-increasing 
army.  Burgoyne  now  began  to  face  troubles  which 
he  had  not  calculated  upon.  The  difficulty  of  get- 
ting supplies  increased,  and  the  labor  required  of  his 
soldiers  in  removing  obstructions  from  their  path ; 
building  roads  and  bridges  and  getting  their  artillery 
forward,  told  upon  them  severely,  so  that  his  pro- 
gress was  slow.  His  Indian  allies,  discontented  at 
being  checked  in  their  murderous  career,  began  to 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    23 

• 

desert  in  considerable  numbers,  and  these  deser- 
tions, added  to  his  losses  in  battle  and  by  sickness, 
weakened  his  army  seriously.  While  these  troubles 
were  at  their  height,  a  messenger  arrived  at  his  camp 
with  news  that  St.  Leger  had  reached  Fort  Schuyler, 
and  he  at  once  felt  the  necessity  of  a  movement 
forward.  He  had  been  informed  that  the  patriots 
had  gathered  at  Bennington,  horses,  provisions  and 
other  stores  of  which  he  was  in  sore  need,  and  that 
many  loyalists  in  the  vicinity  were  only  awaiting  a 
favorable  opportunity  to  join  his  army.  He  there- 
fore sent  forward  an  expedition  composed  of  Ger- 
mans under  General  Baum,  to  attack  Bennington  and 
seize  the  stores  there.  By  accomplishing  this  pur- 
pose he  would  not  only  obtain  provisions,  which  he 
so  much  needed,  and  horses,  which  would  enable  him 
to  mount  his  cavalry,  but  would  be  in  a  position  to 
open  the  way  for  co-operation  with  St.  Leger.  The 
plan  was  an  unwise  one  and  he  paid  the  penalty  of 
his  rashness.  Baum's  command  was  destroyed  by 
Stark,"  and  a  body  of  troops  under  Breymann,  sent 


21 


John  Stark  was  born  of  Scotch  parents  at  Londonderry, 
New  Hampshire,  August  28,  1728.  When  twenty-four  years 
of  age  he  was  surprised  while  on  a  hunting  expedition,  by  a 
body  of  St.  Francis  Indians  and  carried  into  captivity,  but 
was  ransomed  by  a  friend.  He  served  as  a  ranger  in  the 
French  and  Indian  war,  and  was  made  a  captain  in  1756. 
He  was  a  conspicuous  figure  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill. 
He  was  in  command  at  Trenton  and  Princeton,  and  after 
the  battle  of  Bennington,  he  enlisted  a  considerable  force 


24     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

to  the  support  of  the  German  commander,  was 
driven  back  with  the  loss  of  guns,  baggage,  and  every 
thing  which  could  incumber  flight.  This  blow  fell 
heavily  upon  Burgoyne,  who  had  begun  the  campaign 
as  though  he  had  an  easy  task  before  him,  and  had 
made  himself  somewhat  ridiculous  by  bombastic 
proclamations,  while  success  inspired  the  patriots  with 
new  hope,  and  their  army  grew  apace  while  Bur- 
goyne's  constantly  decreased.  To  add  to  his  em- 
barrassments, his  Indians  who  had  set  out  so  en- 
thusiastically under  St.  Luc,  disheartened  by  the 
affair  at  Bennington,  deserted  him ;  still,  his  orders 
were  to  force  a  junction  with  Howe  at  Albany,  and 
there  seemed  but  one  duty  before  him,  and  that 
duty  was  to  push  forward.  On  the  20th  of  August, 
four  days  after  the  defeat  at  Bennington,  he  wrote 
to  Germaine."  "  The  great  bulk  of  the  country  is 
undoubtedly  with  Congress  in  principle  and  zeal  ; 
and  their  measures  are  executed  with  a  secrecy  and 
dispatch  that  are  not  to  be  equaled.  Wherever  the 
king's  forces  point,  militia  to  the  amount  of  three  or 
four  thousand  assemble  in  twenty-four  hours ;  they 
bring  with  them  their  subsistence,  etc.,  and  the  alarm 
over,  they  return  to  their  farms.  The  Hampshire 
Grants  in  particular,  a  country  unpeopled  and  almost 


and  joined  Gates,  having  been  raised  to  the  rank  of  major- 
general.  He  served  with  honor  through  the  war,  and,  at  its 
close,  retired  to  private  life.  He  died  on  May  8,  1822,  and 
lies  buried  at  Manchester,  in  his  native  State. 

^  Vide  A  State  of  the  Expedition.     Appendix  IX,  p.  25. 


ill! 


I 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.     25 

unknown  in  the  last  war,  now  abounds  in  the  most 
active  and  rebellious  race  of  the  continent,  and  hangs 
like  a  gathering  storm  on  my  left.     In  all  parts  the 
industry  and  management  in  driving  cattle  and  remov- 
ing corn  are  indefatigable  and  certain  ;  and  it  becomes 
impracticable  to  move  without  portable  magazines. 
Another   most   embarrassing    circumstance     is   the 
want  of   communication   with   Sir   William    Howe. 
Of  the  messengers  I  have  sent,  I  know  of  two  being 
hanged,  and  am  ignorant  whether  any  of   the  rest 
arrived.      The    same   fate    has   probably   attended 
those  dispatched  by  Sir  William  Howe,  for  only  one 
letter  is  come  to  hand,  informing  me  that  his  inten- 
tion   is   for    Pennsylvania ;    that   Washington    has 
detached  Sullivan  with  two  thousand  five  hundred 
men  to  Albany  ;  that  Putnam  is  in  the  Highlands 
with  four  thousand  men.     That  after  my  arrival  at 
Albany,  the  movements  of   the  enemy  must  guide 
mine,  but  that  he  wished  the  enemy  might  be  driven 
out  of  the  province  before  any  operation  took  place 
against  the  Connecticut ;    that   Sir  Henry  Clinton 
remained  in  the  command  in  the  neighborhood  of 
New   York,  and   would   act   as   occurrences   might 
direct.      No    operation,    my    lord,    has    yet    been 
undertaken  in  my  favor  ;    the  Highlands  have  not 
even   been   threatened.     Had    I    a   latitude   in   my 
orders,  I  should  think   it  my   duty  to   wait  in  this 
position,  or  perhaps,  as  far  back  as  Fort  Edward, 
where  my  communication  with  Lake  George  would 
be  perfectly  secure,  till  some  event  happened  to  as- 
.4 


II - 


! 

! 


i 


j    I 

i 

I    ? 


26     T/^e  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne, 

sist  my  movement  forward  ;  but  my  orders  being 
positive  to  'force  a  junction  with  Sir  William  Howe,' 
I  apprehend  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  remain  inactive 
longer  than  shall  be  necessary  to  collect  twenty-five 
days'  provision,  and  to  receive  the  reinforcement  of 
the  additional  companies,  the  German  drafts  and 
recruits  now  (and  unfortunately  only  now)  on  Lake 
Champlain.  The  waiting  the  arrival  of  this  rein- 
forcement is  of  indispensable  necessity,  because  from 
the  hour  I  pass  the  Hudson's  river  and  proceed 
toward  Albany,  all  safety  of  communication  ceases. 
I  must  expect  a  large  body  of  the  enemy  from  my 
left  will  take  post  behind  me.  When  I  wrote  more 
confidently,  I  little  foresaw  that  I  was  to  be  left  to 
pursue  my  way  through  such  a  tract  of  country,  and 
hosts  of  foes,  without  any  co-operation  from  New 
York  ;  nor  did  I  then  think  the  garrison  of  Ticon- 
deroga  would  fall  to  my  share  alone,  a  dangerous 
experiment  would  it  be  to  leave  that  post  in  weak- 
ness, and  too  heavy  a  drain  it  is  upon  the  life  blood 
of  my  force  to  give  it  due  strength.  I  yet  do  not 
despond. —  Should  I  succeed  in  forcing  my  way  to 
Albany,  and  find  that  country  in  a  state  to  subsist 
my  army,  I  shall  think  no  more  of  a  retreat,  but  at 
the  best  fortify  there  and  await  Sir  W.  Howe's 
operations. 

"  Whatever  may  be  my  fate,  my  lord,  I  submit  my 
actions  to  the  breast  of  the  king,  and  to  the  candid 
judgment  of  my  profession,  when  all  the  motives  be- 
come public,  and  I  rest  in  the  confidence  that  what- 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    27 

ever  decii  Ion  may  be  passed  upon  my  conduct,  my 
good  intent  will  not  be  questioned. 

"  I  cannot  close  so  serious  a  letter  without  express- 
ing my  fullest  satisfaction  in  the  behavior  and  coun- 
tenance of  the  troops,  and  my  complete  confidence 
that  in  all  trials  they  will  do  whatever  can  be  expected 
from  men  devoted  to  their  king  and  country." 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  he  fully  realized  the 
perils  of  his  situation  from  a  military  point  of  view ; 
that  when  he  passed  the  Hudson  his  communication 
would  inevitably  be  cut  off,  and  that  he  could  not 
depend  upon  the  country  for  subsistence.  He  had 
at  least  expected  that  Carleton  would  relieve  him  to 
the  extent  of  forwarding  troops  to  hold  Ticonder- 
oga,  that  he  might  not  be  obliged  to  weaken  his 
force  by  garrisoning  that  post ;  but  even  in  this  he 
was  disappointed,  and  obliged  to  leave  some  of  his 
most  effective  troops  behind  to  hold  the  forts  he 
had  captured.  But  he  had  no  choice  to  make.  His 
orders  were  peremptory  to  push  forward.  Misfor- 
tunes never  come  singly  it  has  been  said,  and  Bur- 
goyne soon  had  reason  to  realize  the  truth  of  the 
saying,  for  he  had  not  recovered  from  the  shock  of 
his  defeat  at  Bennington,  when  he  learned  of  the 
defeat  and  flight  of  St.  Leger.  Thus  was  he  left 
alone  with  his  rapidly  wasting  army  to  meet  the 
exultant  forces  of  the  patriots,  and  he  looked 
anxiously  for  help  toward  the  south.  Where  was 
Clinton,  who  was  to  have  been  sent  by  Howe  from 
New  York  to  co-operate  with  him  ?     He  had  heard 


m 


i  li 


28     T/ie  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

nothing  from  that  direction,  and  now  sent  a  messen- 
ger in  disguise  to  urge  Clinton  to  hasten  forward  to 
his  relief, ""3  at  the  same  time  gathering  all  the  pro- 
visions possible  for  his  army,  and  pushing  on  toward 
Albany.  On  the  nth  of  September  his  troops 
received  orders  to  be  in  readiness  to  cross  the  Hud- 
son, which  they  had  reached,  but  heavy  rains  pre- 
vented them  from  so  doing  until  the  13th,  when 
they  crossed  on  a  bridge  of  boats.  The  hazard  of 
thus  severing  communication  with  their  base  of 
operations  was  regarded  with  apprehension  by  his 
officers,  and  we  know  that  Burgoyne  himself  fully 
comprehended  the  responsibility  which  he  took  in 
making  the  step,  but  it  was  a  necessary  one  in  the 
plan  laid  out  for  him,  and  in  accordance  with  the 
key-note  of  the  campaign  — "  This,  army  must  not 
retreat^  Having  crossed  the  river,  he  encamped  on 
the  heights  and  plains  of  Saratoga,  where,  like  the 
excellent  dramatist  that  he  was,  he  completed  the 
second  act  of  his  drama.  Burgoyne  did  not  linger  in 
camp.  Albany,  where  he  was  to  meet  Clinton,  and 
where  he  had  hoped  also  to  have  met  St.  Leger,  had 
not  his  plans  in  connection  with  that  officer  gone 


^  Clinton  wrote,  some  days  later :  "  There  is  a  report  of  a 
messenger  of  yours  to  me  having  been  taken,  and  the  letter 
discovered  in  a  double  wooden  canteen."  Probably  this 
was  the  messenger  dispatched  at  this  time,  and  one  of  the 
several  which  suffered  death  at  the  hands  of  their  captors. 
Previous  to  this  he  had  dispatched  at  least  ten  messengers 
at  different  times  and  by  different  routes  to  open  a  commu- 
nication with  Clinton. 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.     29 

awry,  was  his  objective  point,  and  on  the  15th,  his 
army  in  splendid  array  set  out  in  three  columns  to 
the  music  of  fife  and  drum,  with  standards  flutter- 
ing in  the  breeze,  gay  uniforms  and  glittering 
arms,  forming  a  pageant  which  was  never  forgotten 
by  those  who  witnessed  it,  and  which  the  imaginative 
may  still  depict  with  approximate  accuracy.  That 
night  he  encamped  his  army  at  Dovegat  where  it 
remained  for  two  days,  while  the  way  was  being 
cleared  for  the  advance  of  his  artillery.  Realizing 
the  dangers  which  surrounded  him,  his  orders  were 
strict.  His  troops  lay  upon  their  arms  fully  accoutred, 
and  he  issued  orders  that  any  soldier  who  passed 
beyond  his  advanced  sentries  should  be  instantly 
hung.  As  though  they  already  felt  the  shadow  of 
coming  disaster,  a  strange  silence  suddenly  fell  upon 
his  camp.  It  was  remarked  by  the  Americans  that 
neither  drum  beat  nor  trumpet  sounded  within  the 
British  lines,  perhaps  because  of  the  constant  activity 
required  in  opening  roads  and  getting  forward  bag- 
gage and  supplies,  with  the  fatigue  consequent  upon 
such  exertions,  or  that  their  position  might  not  be 
too  well  defined.  General  Gates  had  superseded 
Schuyler  —  an  officer  of  superior  merit  —  the  loss  of 
Ticonderoga  having  afforded  the  enemies  of  the 
latter  an  opportunity  for  a  hearing  by  Congress, 
and  his  army  blocked  Burgoyne's  path  to  Albany. 
The  Americans  had  thrown  up  fortifications  from  the 
river  bank  back  to  the  heights  a  mile  away.  On  the 
19th,  Burgoyne  having  divided  his  army  again  into 


i 


30     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

three  columns,  himself  led  the  center  composed  of 
English  regiments  toward  the  heights,  while  Riedesel 
and  Phillips  took  the  road  by  the  river,  and  Fraser 
swept  round  to  the  west  by  the  Quaker  Springs  road 
to  join  Burgoyne  upon  a  clearing  known  as  Freeman's 
Farm,  near  the  American  left  wing,  Burgoyne  having 
ascertained  by  a  reconnoissance  that  the  American 
right  occupied  a  position  too  strong  for  him  to  suc- 
cessfully attack.  The  march  of  the  British  was  nec- 
essarily slow  on  account  of  the  difficulties  which 
they  encountered,  as  it  was  often  necessary  to  halt 
in  order  to  remove  trees  and  construct  bridges  over 
water-courses.  Shortly  after  noon,  Morgan  began 
the  action  by  attacking  the  advancing  center,  which 
being  reinforced  by  Fraser  compelled  him  to  give 
way  in  confusion ;  but  subsequently  receiving  rein- 
forcements he  renewed  the  conflict.  The  battle 
becoming  general,  Arnold,  who  had  harassed  the 
enemy  continually  on  its  advance,  now  engaged  in 
conjunction  with  Morgan  the  combined  divisions 
of  Burgoyne  and  Fraser.  Although  they  fought 
with  desperate  energy,  the  odds  were  against  them, 
when  Gates  sent  his  tardy  reinforcements  to  their 
support,  and  they  were  seemingly  upon  the  point  of 
victory  when  the  artillery  of  Phillips  forced  them 
back  toward  their  lines.  The  two  armies  were  now 
face  to  face  upon  opposite  slopes,  and  for  a  short 
space  there  was  a  lull  in  the  storm  of  battle  ;  but  the 
struggle  was  soon  resumed,  and  the  tide  of  conflict 
ebbed  and  flowed,  each  side  at  times  seeming  near 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    31 

victory,  when  at  a  critical  juncture  for  the  British, 
Ricdesel  came  upon  the  field  at  double  quick  and 
with  his  well  served  artillery  brought  the  battle  to 
a  close  —  the  exhausted  Americans  falling  back  to 
their  camp,  carrying  with  them  their  wounded  and 
prisoners.  At  this  critical  juncture,  Fraser  and 
Breymann  quickly  prepared  to  follow  up  the  advan- 
tage thus  gained,  and  were  about  to  pursue  and 
attack  the  Americans  in  their  camp,  when  they  were 
recalled  by  the  prudent  Burgoyne,  much  to  their 
chagrin  and  that  of  the  troops  in  their  command, 
who  were  eager  to  follow.  What  the  result  of  such 
a  movement  would  have  been,  it  is  now  impossible 
to  calculate,'''^  but  the  failure  of  Burgoyne  to  follow 
up  the  advantage  gained  by  Riedesel  was  made 
one  of  the  many  subjects  of  severe  criticism  against 
his  management  of  the  campaign.  Burgoyne  held 
the  field  and  claimed  a  victory ;  but,  says  an  eminent 
authority  -^^  *'  As  the  intention  of  the  Americans  was 
not  to  advance,  but  to  maintain  their  position,  and 
that  of  the  English  not  to  maintain  theirs,  but  to 
gain  ground,  it  is  easy  to  see  which  had  the  advan- 
tage of  the  day."  The  British  army  as  it  lay  upon 
the  field,  was  kept  in  constant   alarm  through  the 


^  General  Schuyler,  in  his  diary,  says :  "  Had  it  not  been 
for  this  order  of  the  British  general,  the  Americans  would 
have  been,  if  not  defeated,  at  least  held  in  such  check  as  to 
have  made  it  a  drawn  battle." 

^  Colonel  William  L.  Stone,  in  Burgoyne's  campaign, 
Albany,  1877,  P-  49- 


32     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne, 

night  by  parties  of  skirmishers  from  the  patriot  camp, 
and  could  get  no  rest.  The  irrepressible  Arnold, 
who  seemed  never  so  happy  as  when  breasting 
the  infernal  billows  of  carnage,  urged  Gates  with 
all  his  eloquence  to  make  a  night  attack,  but  was 
not  listened  to,  and  this  difference  of  opinion 
resulting  in  angry  words,  Gates  suspended  his 
impulsive  subordinate  from  command,  an  act  which 
probably  ignited  that  train  of  passion  which  finally 
destroyed  the  patriotism  which  had  possessed  his 
soul,  and  made  room  for  the  foul  spirit  of  treason  to 
brood  in.  On  the  following  morning,  his  sick  and 
wounded  having  been  removed  to  the  river  bank  in 
the  rear  of  the  army,  Burgoyne  formed  his  lines 
for  a  forward  movement  and  awaited  the  lifting  of 
the  river  fog,  which  hung  like  a  veil  between  him  and 
the  American  camp,  when  there  occurred  one  of 
those  singular  events  which  apparently  insignificant 
in  themselves,  are  fraught  with  momentous  conse- 
quences. General  Fraser,  who  was  his  most  trusted 
adviser  and  ever  foremost  in  daring  enterprise,  sug- 
gested to  Burgoyne  that  as  the  grenadiers  who  were 
to  lead  in  the  attack  were  fatigued  by  the  duty  of  the 
previous  day,  it  would  be  well  to  let  them  rest  until 
the  following  morning,  when  they  would  be  in  a  con- 
dition to  advance  with  greater  spirit.  To  this  Bur- 
goyne listened  and  recalled  his  orders,  permitting 
his  soldiers  to  return  to  camp,  where  they  rested  as 
well  as  they  might  under  the  circumstances.  By 
this  delay  a  messenger  from  Clinton  was  enabled  to 


The  Campaigns  of  Carlcton  aud  Burgoyne.    33 

reach  him,  bearing  a  letter  in  cypher  with  the  cheer- 
ing news  that  the  fleet  from  the  south  was  about  to 
ascend  the  Hudson  for  his  relief,  and  that  the  forts 
below  Albany,  which  was  now  but  about  thirty  miles 
from  his  camp,  would  be  attacked  on  the  22d. 
This  information  completely  changed  his  plans  and 
perhaps  the  fate  of  his  army,  as  he  resolved  to  fortify 
his  camp  and  to  remain  where  he  was  until  he 
received  further  news  from  Clinton,  to  whom  he 
immediately  sent  back  his  messenger,'^  informing  him 


"^  Fonblanque  tells  us  that  "  This  communication  was 
deposited  in  a  hollow  silver  bullet,  which  the  bearer  was 
directed  to  deliver  into  the  general's  own  hands.  The  man 
succeeded  in  making  his  way  to  Fort  Montgomery,  on  the 
Hudson,  where,  in  compliance  with  his  inquiries  for  Gen- 
eral Clinton,  he  was  led  into  the  presence,  not  of  Sir  Henry 
Clinton,  but  of  a  namesake.  General  Clinton  of  the  Ameri- 
can army,  the  late  governor  of  New  York.  On  discovering 
his  mistake  the  unfortunate  man  swallowed  the  bullet,  but 
an  emetic  being  administered,  the  dispatch  was  discovered, 
and  its  bearer  hanged  as  a  spy."  Vide  Life  of  Burgoyne, 
p.  286  et  seq.  It  is  hardly  probable  that  two  incidents  of  pre- 
cisely the  same  nature  could  have  occurred,  yet  there  may 
be  seen  in  the  rooms  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society  a 
copy  of  the  identical  dispatch,  in  the  handwriting  of  Gov- 
ernor Clinton,  which  was  taken  from  the  silver  bullet  borne 
by  the  messenger  who  was  hung,  and  this  message  was  not 
from  Burgoyne  to  Clinton,  but  from  Clinton  to  Burgoyne, 
and'  bears  date  nearly  three  weeks  later  than  the  date  of  the 
message  dispatched  by  Burgoyne.     It  is  as  follows  : 

"  Fort  Montgomery,  October  8,  1777. 

"Nous  y  voici,  and  nothing  now  between  us  and  Gates. 
I  sincerely  hope  this  little  success  of  ours  may  facilitate 
your  operations.     In  answer  to  your  letter  of  the  28th  Sep- 


I 


34     T/ic  Campaig7is  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

of  his  perilous  situation,  and  urging  his  co-operation. 
This  delay   was  of  almost  vital   importance  to  the 


tember,  by  C.  C,  I  shall  only  say,  I  cannot  presume  to 
order,  or  even  advise,  for  reasons  obvious.  I  heartily  wish 
you  success. 

"  Faithfully  yours, 
"Gen.  Burgoyne."  "H.Clinton." 

The  bearer  of  this  message  was  Sergeant  Daniel  Taylor, 
who,  about  noon  on  the  loth  of  October,  rode  into  the 
camp  of  the  American  General  Clinton  and  inquired  for 
General  Clinton,  stating  that  he  was  a  friend  and  wished  to 
see  him.  Upon  being  conducted  to  his  presence  he  saw  his 
mistake,  and  hastily  swallowed  the  bullet,which  was  of  an  oval 
form.  The  movement  was  notired,  and  Dr.  Moses  Higby 
sent  for,  who  administered  an  emetic,  which  caused  him  to 
throw  up  the  bullet.  He  recovered  it  and  succeeded  in 
swallowing  it  a  second  time,  and  refused  to  again  take  an 
emetic  ;  but  Clinton  threatened  to  hang  him  and  find  it  with 
the  surgeon's  knife,  when  he  yielded  and  again  threw  it  up. 
On  the  1 2th  he  was  hung  upon  an  apple  tree  near  the 
church  in  the  village  of  Kingston,  during  the  conflagration 
of  the  village,  which  had  been  fired  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton's 
troops  who  had  then  reached  there.  This  is  substantially 
the  account  given  by  Lossing  and  others,  and  can  be 

reconciled  with  Fonblanque's  account,  which  is  wb^  oed 

upon  that  of  Lamb  (vide  Journal   of  Occurrr  ci:.,  p. 

162),    by  supposing   the  messenger   sent  by  ^->yne   to 

Clinton  on  the  night  of  the  21st  of  September,  to  have  been 
Daniel  Taylor.  Learning  subsequently  the  story  of  his 
fatal  mistake  and  death,  without  knowing  the  date  of  its 
occurrence,  Fonblanque  supposed  his  capture  to  have  taken 
place  while  he  was  on  his  way  to  Clinton  instead  of  on  his 
return  to  Burgoyne.  We  can  only  account  for  Taylor's 
error  in  mistaking  the  American  for  the  British  camp,  by 
supposing  that  when  Taylor  left  Sir  Henry  Clinton  at  Fort 
Montgomery,  which  that  general  had  just  captured  from 
his  namesake,  he  understood  that  Sir  Henry  was  to  immedi- 
ately advance,  and  that  mCw.Jng  with  insurmountable  diffi- 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoync.    35 

Americans,  as  it  enabled  them  to  strengthen  their 
position  and  to  get  forward  much-needed  reinforce- 
ments and  war  material ;  indeed,  Wilkinson,  who 
can  never  be  accused  of  pessimism,  took  a  rather 
despondent  view  of  the  situation  of  the  American 
position  at  this  moment  of  suspense  when  the 
patriots,  anxiously  peering  through  the  fog,  were 
awaiting  the  expected  attack.  He  says  i""^  "  We  were 
badly  fitted  to  defend  works,  or  meet  the  close  ren- 
contre ;  the  late  hour  at  which  the  action  closed  the 
day  before ;  the  fatigue  of  officers  and  men,  and 
the  defects  of  our  organization  had  prevented  our 
left  wing  from  drawing  ammunition,  and  we  could 
not  boast  of  more  than  a  bayonet  for  every  three 
,.  muskets ;  the  fog  obscured  every  object  at  the  short 
distance  of  twenty  yards.  We  passed  an  hour  of 
awful  expectation  and  suspense,  during  which,  hope, 
fear  and  anxiety  played  on  the  imagination."  But 
Burgoyne  waited  in  vain.  On  the  22d  and  23d, 
to  make  sure  that  Clinton  should  receive  a  knowl- 
edge of  his  situation,  he  dispatched  officers  in  dis- 
guise to  him,  with  an  urgent  request  to  hasten  to  his 


culties  which  delayed  him,  and  supposing  Sir  Henry  to  have 
gotten  ahead  of  him,  he  thought  it  proper  to  report  in  person 
to  the  author  of  the  message  the  particulars  of  his  delay ; 
otherwise  it  would  have  been  a  useless  performance  for 
Taylor  to  have  sought  Sir  Henry  Clinton's  presence.  Unless 
we  adopt  such  an  explanation  there  would  seem  to  be  no 
reason  for  the  act. 

^Vide  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times,  Phila.,  18 16,  vol.  i, 
p.  250. 


r^ 


36     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Btirgoyne. 

aid,  and  on  the  27th  and  28th  sent  two  other  mes- 
sengers on  the  same  errand."^  The  5th  of  October 
arrived  ;  the  season  was  advancing  ;  his  army  was  on 
short  allowance  and  some  m.ovement  must  be  made. 
He  now  convened  a  council  of  his  officers  to  considf 
the  situation.      Riedesel  wisely  advised  him  to  fall 


^The  dispatch  sent  on  the  23d  reached  Clinton  on  the  5th 
of  October.  The  officer  dispatched  on  the  27th  was  Captain 
Thomas  Scotv  of  the  Fifty-third  regiment,  who  has  left  a 
journal  recounting  the  perils  through  which  he  passed. 
After  eleven  days  of  travel,  he  was  told  by  a  man  whom  he 
met  that  Sir  Henry  Clinton  was  in  possession  of  Fort  Mont- 
gomery, and  he  turned  his  weary  steps  thitherward,  reach- 
ing the  fort  on  the  9th,  and  safely  delivering  his  dispatch 
to  Clinton.  On  the  loth,  he  departed  northward  with 
the  expedition  of  Clinton  to  Kingston,  reaching  it  on  the 
1 2th,  at  which  time  it  was  fired  by  the  British  while  the 
execution  of  poor  Taylor  was  taking  place.  From  here  he 
started  to  reach  Burgoyne,  but  after  encountering  great 
perils  and  learning  of  Burgoyne's  surrender,  he  made  his 
way  back  and  finally  reached  Clinton  in  safety.  The  officer 
dispatched  on  the  28th  was  Captain  Alexander  Campbell  of 
the  Sixty-second  regiment,  who  made  his  way  safely  through 
the  American  lines  and  delivered  his  dispatch  to  Clinton 
at  Fort  Montgomery  on  the  5th  of  October,  the  day  upon 
which  the  dispatch  of  the  23d  reached  its  destination. 
Campbell  se  out  immediately  on  his  return,  and  eluding 
the  vigilance  of  the  Americans  reached  Burgoyne's  camp 
on  the  night  of  the  i6th,  after  the  terms  of  the  surrender 
had  been  agreed  upon,  but  before  the  articles  had  been 
signed.  It  was  the  cheering  news  which  he  bore  of  Clinton's 
advance  up  the  Hudson,  which  for  a  moment  rekindled 
Burgoyne's  waning  hope  and  caused  him  to  reconsider  the 
terms  of  surrender  which  he  had  agreed  upon.  Captain 
Campbell  was  one  of  the  officers  who  surrendered,  and 
after  much  service,  and  passing  the  intervening  grades  of 
rank,  became  a  general  in  the  British  army  January  i,  18 12. 


<-^ 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    37 

back  to  Fort  Edward  and  there  await  the  expected 
aid  from  the  south,  but  Burgoyne  hesitated.  His 
position  was  daily  becoming  more  critical.  An  officer 
whom  Gates  had  allowed  to  return  to  his  camp, 
brought  news  of  an  attack  by  the  Americans  in  his 
rear  upon  Ticonderoga,  an  attack,  which  though  un- 
successful, had  resulted  in  the  capture  of  a  portion  of 
the  Fifty-third  regiment  with  one  of  his  brigs  and 
a  bateau  :  indeed,  he  realized  that  he  was  being 
cut  off  from  his  base  of  operations.  The  wolves, 
attracted  by  the  bodies  ,of  the  slain  exposed  by 
partial  burial,  rnade  night  hideous  by  continual  bowl- 
ings, which  added  to  the  alarms  pervading  his  camp 
day  and  night  on  account  of  threatened  or  attempted 
attacks,  destroyed  all  repose,  the  loss  of  which 
told  upon  the  strength  and  spirits  of  his  men.  He 
now  resolved  to  make  a  reconnoissance  in  force,  and 
if  he  found  the  Americans  too  strong,  to  fall  back 
as  advised.  On  the  7th  of  October,  selecting  fif- 
teen hundred  men,  with  Riedesel,  Phillips  and  Fra- 
ser,  himself  assuming  command,  he  formed  this  force 
in  line  of  battle  in  a  field  within  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  of  the  American  left  wing,  intending  to  test  the 
possibility  of  forcing  a  passage,  and  if  he  found  this 
to  be  impracticable,  he  deemed  it  probable  that 
his  enemy  by  a  vigorous  attack  could  be  dislodged, 
which  would  greatly  favor  his  retreat.  But  the 
Americans  were  awaiting  this  movement  of  their 
foes  with  anxious  impatience,  and  Gates  was  soon 
made  aware  of  the  movement  in  front,  by  the  drum- 


■Pi 


mni 


A-.    v.rm^i^M^jrTTttfr'Kfn^^ 


38     TAe  Campaigns  of  Carle  ton  and  Burgoyne. 

beat  to  arms,  which  was  caught  up  and  repeated  until 
it  reached  him  at  his  head-quarters  in  the  rear.  Wil- 
kinson, his  dashing  adjutant,  then  but  a  nuere  youth, 
was  at  once  dispatched  to  learn  the  cause  of  the 
alarm,  and  soon  returned,  reporting  the  nature  of  the 
movement  and  advising  an  attack.  To  \  \is  advice 
Gates  replied :  "  Well,  then,  order  on  Morgan  to 
begin  the  game."^'  Making  a  detour  through  the 
wood,  Morgan  attained  a  ridge  above  Fraser — who 
with  five  hundred  men  was  posted  so  as  to  be  able 
to  attack  the  American  left  —  from  whence  he  fell 
upon  him  with  terrible  fury,  while  simultaneously  an 
attack  was  made  by  General  Poor  on  the  British  left, 
and  Learned  held  the  center  composed  of  Germans 
in  check.  So  impetuous  was  the  onslaught  of  Mor- 
gan, that  Eraser's  command,  composed  of  the  flower 
of  the  army,  gave  way,  though  Fraser  himself  was 
ubiquitous,  inspiring  his  men  at  every  point  by  word 
and  example.  Morgan  then,  with  his  usual  celerity 
of  movement,  fell  upon  the  flank  of  the  British  right, 
causing  it  to  waver,  when  Dearborn^^  with  his  New 


*  Vide  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  p.  268. 

^  Henry  Dearborn  was  born  at  Hampton,  New  Hampshire, 
March,  1751.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  receive  a  captain's 
commission  in  the  continental  army,  and  participated  in  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill  in  June,  1775.  When  the  expedition 
for  the  invasion  of  Canada  was  organized,  he  was  one  of  the 
foremost  to  take  part  in  it,  and  in  the  assault  on  Quebec  was 
made  prisoner,  but  in  May,  1776,  was  liberated  by  the 
magnanimous  Carleton.  He  was  immediately  after  his 
liberation  promoted  to  a  majority,  and  subsequently  to  a 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    39 

England  troops,  fell  upon  the  front  with  such  effect 
as  to  shatter  it  to  fragments.  The  Americans  now 
attacked  the  center  with  all  their  force,  and  for 
awhile  the  Germans  sustained  the  brunt  of  the  bat- 
tle unmoved.  Arnold,  although  deprived  of  his 
command  by  Gates,  was  a  controlling  spirit  in  the 
conflict  and  fought  on  his  own  account,  appearing 
everywhere  at  the  proper  moment  to  turn  the  tide 
in  favor  of  the  Americans.  Seizing  at  this  moment 
the  command  of  two  brigades,  he  led  them  to  the 
assault,  and  although  the  Germans  stood  firm  for 
a  while,  in  the  end  he  succeeded  in  completely  rout- 
ing them.  Fraser,  who  had  been  the  most  conspicu- 
ous figure  in  the  conflict,  had  fallen  mortally  wounded 


lieutenant-colonelcy  in  Scammel's  regiment,  succeeding 
that  officer  in  command  at  his  death.  He  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  battles  of  Saratoga  and  Monmouth,  and  wit- 
nessed the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown.  After  the 
war  he  removed  to  the  district  of  Maine,  and  in  1789,  was 
appointed  by  President  Washington  marshal  of  the  dis- 
trict. He  served  two  terms  in  Congress  and  was  secretary 
of  war  under  President  Jefferson  in  1801,  which  office  he 
retained  for  eight  years,  when  he  received  the  appointment 
of  collector  of  customs  at  the  port  of  Boston.  Whjpn  the 
War  of  1 81 2  with  Great  Britain  broke  out,  he  was  created 
senior  major-general,  and  at  once  entered  active  service, 
capturing  York  in  Upper  Canada,  and  Fort  George  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Niagara.  Subsequently  he  was  in  command 
of  the  military  district  of  New  York.  At  the  close  of  the 
war,  he  resigned  his  commission  and  was  appointed  minis- 
ter to  Portugal,  which  office  he  retained  for  two  years  when 
he  resigned.  On  the  6th  of  June,  1829,  he  died  at  Rox- 
bury,  Masssachusetts. 


mmmmmim 


40     T/ie  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

by  one  of  Morgan's  sharpshooters,^'  and  Burgoyne 
had  taken  his  place,  exposing  himself  recklessly  to 
the  fire  of  the  American  riflemen.  He  seemed  to 
see  the  shadow  of  coming  disaster,  and  paid  little 
heed  to  the  urgent  appeals  of  his  officers  not  to 
expose  himself  unnecessarily.  Thus  the  fight  con- 
tinued, until  seeing  his  troops  everywhere  giving  way, 
Burgoyne  ordered  a  retreat,  and  the  British  fell  back 
within  their  lines  abandoning  their  artillery.  Although 
Arnold  as  before  stated  was  without  a  command, 
he  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  Ameri- 
cans, and  under  a  consuming  fire  assaulted  the  works 
of  the  enemy  from  right  to  left.  With  the  fury  of 
a  madman  he  attacked  the  great  redoubt,  and  driv- 

^^  During  the  battle  Fraser  was  everywhere,  inspiring  the 
troops  by  word  and  example.  He  rode  a  gray  horse  and 
was  a  conspicuous  object.  Arnold  had  noticed  him  from 
time  to  time,  and  knowing  how  important  a  factor  he  was 
in  the  conflict,  he  approached  Morgan  and  said :  "  That  offi- 
cer upon  a  gray  horse  is  of  himself  a  host,  and  must  be  dis- 
posed of.  Direct  the  attention  of  some  of  the  sharpshooters 
among  J/ our  riflemen  to  him."  Morgan  immediately  selected 
several  of  his  best  riflemen,  among  whom  was  Timothy 
Murphy,  a  famous  shot,  and  called  their  attention  to  the 
heroic  rider  of  the  gray  charger,  saying:  "  That  gallant 
officer  is  General  Fraser.  I  admire  and  respect  him,  but  it  is 
necessary  that  he  should  die ;  take  your  stations  in  that  wood 
and  do  your  duty.''  In  a  moment  a  bullet  severed  the  crup- 
per of  the  general's  horse,  and  then  another  cut  through  his 
horse's  mane.  "  Sir"  said  his  aid,  "  It  is  evident  that  you 
are  marked  out  for  particular  aim  ;  would  it  not  be  prudent 
for  you  to  retire  from  this  place  f  "  *'  My  duty  forbids  me  to 
fly  from  danger"  replied  Fraser,  and  immediately  fell, 
drooping  upon  his  horse's  neck,  mortally  wounded.  The 
deadly  bullet  of  Tim  Murphy  had  done  its  cruel  work. 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    41 

ing  the  infantry  of  Balcarres  from  an  abattis  within, 
he  dashed  to  the  left,  regardless  of  the  fiery  storm 
which  swept  his  path,  and  taking  the  lead  of 
Learned's  brigade  attacked  the  Germans  on  their 
right  flank,  killing  General  Breymann  and  taking  the 
key  of  the  British  position.  As  the  Germans 
retreated  they  fired  a  parting  volley,  killing  his  horse 
and  wounding  him  severely  in  the  I0-.  With  the 
approach  of  darkness  the  conflict  can  \  to  an  end, 
and  with  it  Burgoyne's  last  hope  of  success.  The 
next  morning  Fraser,  who  was  the  id  A  of  his  brother 
officers  as  well  as  of  all  grades  of  ti^e  army  even  to 
the  camp  followers,  died,  and  Burgoyne  who  was 
deeply  affected  by  his  loss,  remained  within  his  lines 
during  the  day.  At  sunset,  in  accordance  with  his 
friend's  request,  Burgoyne  buried  him  with  the  most 
impressive  solemnity  on  a  hill  within  the  great 
redoubt.  A  retreat  was  immediately  ordered,  and 
at  nine  o'clock  the  British  stole  away  in  the  dark- 
ness, drenched  to  the  skin  by  one  of  those  cold, 
driving  storms  so  common  to  the  autumnal  season 
in  this  latitude.  His  wounded  and  sick  he  left 
behind,  confiding  them  to  the  tender  mercy  of  his 
enemy.  Through  the  darkness  and  the  storm,  the 
beaten  but  brave  army  pursued  its  weary  march 
northward,  Burgoyne  intending  to  push  it  across  the 
Hudson,  so  as  to  resume  communication  at  Batten- 
kill  with  Lake  George  and  Canada.  Two  hours 
before  daybreak,  the  almost  exhausted  troops  reached 
Dovegat,  where  Burgoyne  called  a  halt  against  the 
6 


mmmmmmfmm 


42     Tke  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

advice  of  his  officers,  who  urged  him  to  press  on. 
By  this  halt  he  lost  valuable  time,  as  the  heights  of 
Saratoga  which  commanded  the  Fish  creek  ford  was 
only  occupied  by  a  small  force  of  Americans,  and  he 
might  have  reached  the  place  and  crossed  the  Hud- 
son without  serious  opposition.  As  it  was  however, 
Wilkinson  says  that  when  "the  front  of  Burgoyne's 
army  reached  Saratoga  the  rear  of  our  militia  was 
ascending  the  opposite  bank  of  Hudson's  river, 
where  they  took  post  and  prevented  its  passage."  ^^ 
After  a  two  hours'  halt,  Burgoyne  moved  his  army 
from  Dovegat  across  Fish  creek  where  it  encamped 
on  the  opposite  bank,  while  he  remained  on  the  south 
side,  taking  possession  of  General  Schuyler's  mansion, 
in  which  he  passed  the  night. ^^     The  next  morning 


32 


Vide  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  p.  282, 


^  Every  writer  upon  this  subject  hitherto,  has  charged 
Burgoyne  with  spending  this  night  in  revelry,  and  even  his 
biographer,  Fonblanque,  who  would  present  him  to  us  in 
favorable  light,  fails  to  examine  critically  the  evidence  upon 
which  this  charge  rests,  and  leaves  us  with  the  unpleasant 
impression  of  Burgoyne's  criminal  frivolity  still  upon  our 
minds.  The  original  evidence  of  this  charge  appears  to  be 
a  statement  made  by  Madame  Riedesel,  a  lady  who  held 
Burgoyne  in  condemnation,  but  whom  we  must  allow  to 
have  been  above  doing  an  intentional  injustice  even  to  one 
whom  she  condemned.  The  halt  had  been  called  and  Bur- 
goyne had  taken  possession  of  Schuyler's  deserted  house, 
when  General  Phillips  informed  Madame  Riedesel  some- 
what sarcastically,  that  Burgoyne  intended  to  spend  the 
night  there  and  give  them  a  supper,  and  she  continues, 
"  In  this  latter  achievement,  especially.  General  Burgoyne 
was  very  fond  of  indulging.     He  spent  half  of  the  nights  in 


1 


i  1 


k    •$ 


ii 


l^.u. 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    43 

Burgoyne  became  aware  that  the  Americans  were  in 
possession  of  the  heights  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river,  and  finding  it  impossible  to  cross  in  the  face  of 

singing  and  drinking  and  amusing  himself  with  the  wife  of 
a  commissary,  who  was  his  mistress,  and  who,  as  well  as  he, 
loved  champagne."  By  this  passage,  if  carefully  read,  it 
does  not  appear  that  Madame  Riedesel  alludes  to  this  par- 
ticular night  when  they  were  all  in  such  a  distressing  situa- 
tion, but  in  a  general  way  to  numerous  nights,  and  as  she 
was  not  prepossessed  in  favor  of  Burgoyne,  she  probably 
made  her  statement  as  explicit  as  an  adherence  to  truth 
would  permit  her  to  make  it.  In  **  The  German  Auxiliaries 
in  America,"  we  find  the  account  as  follows :  "  While  the 
army  were  suffering  from  cold  and  hunger,  and  every  one 
was  looking  forward  to  the  immediate  future  with  appre- 
hension, Schuyler's  house  was  illuminated,  and  rang  with 
singing,  laughter,  and  the  jingling  of  glasses.  There  Bur- 
goyne was  sitting,  with  some  merry  companions,  at  a  dainty 
supper,  while  the  champagne  was  flowing.  Near  him  sat 
the  beautiful  wife  of  an  English  commissary,  his  mistress. 
Great  as  the  calamity  was,  the  frivolous  general  still  kept  up 
his  orgies.  Some  were  of  the  opinion  that  he  had  made 
that  inexcusable  stand  merely  for  the  sake  of  passing  a 
merry  night."  Writers  upon  this  subject  have  adopted  this 
account,  inferring  that  it  is  original,  when  it  is  only  Madame 
Riedesel's  dressed  up  by  a  reckless  writer.  Given  Bur- 
goyne's  fondness  for  a  merry  supper  and  the  commissary's 
wife,  with  Phillips'  sarcastic  remark  relative  to  the  halt, 
which  he  disapproved  of,  and  we  have  all  the  elements  of 
this  improbable  if  not  impossible  story.  That  a  man  situ- 
ated as  Burgoyne  then  was,  would  halt  his  .exhausted  and 
half-famished  army,  and  that  too  in  a  position  which  im- 
periled its  very  existence,  as  well  as  his  own,  for  the  express  ' 
purpose  of  having  a  dainty  supper  and  an  hour's  dalliance 
with  his  mistress,  is  too  much  to  believe  without  the  most 
explicit  statements  of  a  truthful  eye-witness,  and  for  the 
sake  of  humanity  we  are  glad  that  no  such  evidence  exists. 
This  however  is  by  no  means  a  singular  instance  of  a  fiction 
growing  out  of  the  careless  reading  of  a  truthful  statement. 


i 


PHH 


M 


44     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

such  a  force,  took  post  on  the  ground  he  had  occupied 
on  the  13th  of  September,  on  the  heights  of  Saratoga. 
He  now  resolved  to  continue  his  retreat  up  the  west 
bank  of  the  Hudson,  and  sent  forward  a  force  to 
clear  his  way  to  Fort  Edward  ;  but  to  his  dismay, 
his  men  came  hastily  back  with  the  news  that  it  was 
garrisoned  by  the  Americans.  Gates,  who  had 
waited  for  the  storm  to  cease,  advanced  on  the 
loth,  and  late  in  the  afternoon  encamped  south  of 
Fish  creek. 

Being  misled  by  the  departure  of  Burgoyne's  expe- 
dition to  clear  a  way  to  Fort  Edward  into  the 
belief  that  his  army  was  retreating,  he  ordered  an 
attack  to  be  made  early  in  the  morning  on  what  he 
supposed  to  be  a  guard  left  to  protect  the  baggage, 
and  returned  to  his  head-quarters  a  mile  and  a  half 
in  the  rear.  Burgoyne  becoming  aware  of  this,  pre- 
pared a  trap  which  would  have  resulted  disastrously 
to  the  Americans  had  it  not  been  opportunely  dis- 
covered, greatly  to  his  chagrin,  for  he  afterwards  de- 
nominated it  "  One  of  the  most  adverse  strokes  of  for- 
tune during  the  campaign. "^-^  And  where  was  Clinton? 

^Wilkinson  gives  a  graphic  account  of  this  movement. 
He  says  Gates  had  the  night  before  given  the  following 
order :  "  *  The  army  will  advance  at  reveille  to-morrow  morn- 
ing, Morgan' s  corps  to  keep  the  heights  on  the  left,  and  the 
main  body  to  march  on  the  great  road  near  the  river.'  I 
could  not  approve  of  this  movement,  and  the  general 
required  my  objections.  I  was  of  opinion  *  that  he  would 
commit  himself  to  the  enemy  in  their  strong  position.'  He 
replied  *  that  they  were  already  on  the  retreat,  and  would 
be  miles  ahead  of  us  before  morning.'    I  answered,  *  thsU:  he 


r 


!■  ) 


\.^ 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    45 


r 


He  had  started  on  his  expedition  up  the  Hudson 
most  grandly ;  had  attacked  and  taken  Forts  Mont- 
gomery and  Clinton, 35  and  having  removed  obstruc 

had  no  assurance  of  this,  and  that  I  had  just  left  their 
guards  on  post ; '  and  went  on  to  observe,  *  that,  with  sub- 
mission, I  conceived  we  ough,  to  reconnoiter  before  the 
army  marched ;  because,  should  we,  contrary  to  his  calcula- 
tion, explore  our  way  through  a  dense  fog,  and  fall  in  with 
the  enemy  posted  behind  their  intrenchments,  the  conse- 
quences might  be  destructive.'  These  observations  ap- 
peared to  have  weight  with  the  general,  and  he  ordered  me 
to  rise  early  to  attend  to  the  movement,  and  report  to  him  ; 
but  he  would  not  give  up  the  opinion  that  the  enemy  had 
retreated,  and  observed,  '  it  was  natural  that  they  should 
sacrifice  guards  to  conceal  their  movements.' "  Wilkinson  was 
up,  and  riding  to  the  front,  found  Morgan  already  on  the  move, 
and  that  he  had  been  fired  upon  by  a  picket.  He  hastened 
to  Gates,  and  was  instructed  to  order  Patterson  and  Learned 
to  support  Morgan.  Just  then  he  says,  the  order  came 
from  Gates :  "  *  That  the  troops  must  immediately  cross  the 
creek,  or  return  to  their  camp.'  I  felt  the  critical  import- 
ance of  the  movement  we  were  making  in  the  dark,  for  the 
fog  still  continued  ;  I  feared  the  consequences,  trembled  for 
my  general,  and  was  vexed  at  his  absence.  In  this  tumult 
of  the  passions,  I  returned  an  hasty  answer :  *  Tell  the  gen- 
eral that  his  own  fame  and  the  interests  of  the  cause  are  at 
hazard ;  that  his  presence  is  necessary  with  the  troops.'  " 
They  had  reached  the  creek,  when  he  continues :  "  Our  horses 
had  halted  to  drink,  and,  in  leaning  down  on  the  neck  of 
my  own,  I  cast  my  eyes  up  to  the  opposite  bank,  and 
through  the  fog  discerned  a  party  of  men  in  motion."  This 
led  to  the  discovery  that  the  British  army  was  awaiting  them 
with  its  artillery  ready  to  pour  destruction  into  their  ranks. 
The  discovery  was  however  made  in  time  to  prevent  the 
advancing  troops  from  being  caught  in  the  dangerous  trap 
which  the  British  general  had  set  for  them.  Vtde  Memoirs 
of  My  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  pp.  285-289. 

*  Forts  CHnton  and  Montgomery  were  placed  on  contigu- 
ous heights,  the  former  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  above 


mmm 


46     TAe  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

tions,  had  apparently  opened  a  path  to  Albany  ;  but 
after  burning  Kingston  and  sacking  a  few  of  the 
stately  mansions  near  the  river,  he  quietly  returned  to 
New  York  leaving  Burgoyne  to  his  fate.  The  position 
of  that  general  was  now  desperate,  his  army  being 
constantly  under  fire  on  its  flanks,  in  front  and  rear. 
He  was  even  cut  off  from  a  supply  of  water  although 
so  near  the  river,  as  the  sharpshooters  prevented 
his  soldiers  from  getting  any  by  day  or  night.  A 
council  was  now  called  and  five  propositions  laid 
before  it.  General  Riedesel  advised  the  adoption  of 
the  fourth,  which  was  to  leave  the  artillery  and  bag- 
gage, and  following  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson,  to 
cross  the  river  four  miles  above  Fort  Edward,then  gar- 
risoned by  the  Americans,  and  to  continue  the  retreat 
to  Ticonderoga  leaving  Lake  George  to  the  right. 
Burgoyne  adopted  the  proposal  of  Riedesel,  which 
was  a  wise  one  had  the  way  then  been  open,  and  he 
had  every  thing  made  ready  for  the  march,  when 
he  learned  by  scouts  that  the  Americans  were 
intrenched  opposite  the  ford  which  he  would  have  to 
cross,  and  that  parties  were  posted  along  the  shore 


the  river,  and  were  constructed  in  1775-6.  Fort  Montgom- 
ery was  large  enough  to  accommodate  eight  hundred,  and 
Clinton  four  hundred  men,  and  both  were  built  of  stones  and 
earth.  Below  them  the  river  was  obstructed  by  a  strong 
boom  and  massive  iron  chain,  the  latter  eighteen  hundred 
feet  in  length,  buoyed  by  spars  and  timber  rafts.  These 
obstructions  were  the  result  of  a  recommendation  in  a  re- 
port of  a  commission  to  Congress,  of  which  General  Knox 
of  Maine  was  one. 


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\i!>     .i<"      i  nd   s.u:k)ng  a 
•     I  ?'      river,  'ic  (jiiietl\  •  •      ■  !•  ■•. 
'     Ml)  nc  ic.  Ills  fatf.   Th'  ♦ 

.   i.'jVv   des{>'..'i:it:e,-  lus    irift     '    : 
r  on  hs  llatiks,  In  i\u   \    n:       ■   i' 
fnMTi  a  supply  of  \sav  i  .o  -  . 
ill  .'■,    At.   the   sharpsb.rx.t'    s   i.  f 

'  V  *  iTctting  any  *i\     '.«■,     ■»    i^    '  . 

..:,        w     , ailed    aiul   i.vi-   ,    't  ..,,,  ,, 

t-ral  Kiedesel  ad\-i  .-hI  -'u-  i<  V.p;,  /d  <^\ 
'-.  was  to  Ic.ivc  tl.:;.      •'  \'f:\-\  .iMi  bai:^- 
\in^  the  west  sid<.  ..''  i\\r  Mu<i:on,  to 
'•tr  miles  abovr  I'ort  Kdwaul.then  ear- 
'  '.•  vlic  A  nf-ricaiis,  aed  to  continue  the  retreat 
'^■1...;  .   .':.avin;^-  Lake  Georr-e  to  the  ri^rht. 
adopted  the  proposal   of   Riedesel,  whiv  i- 
•   one  had  the  way  then  been  open,  ai  d  1- 
ihini;    made   ready   for  the  marc  h,    ^^hj- 
by     r^'.'jts    that    the    Amcri< '-:.■>«    v«.'cr'- 
r)|joF;h-  (he  ford  whi'.lih^'  ••<      '•}   '-ave  «.'» 
.1    p.nir-  wore   i><)s''-'  :*     s^or- 


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eartl- 
borm  ,f 
feet   in    i  ^ 
obstruct  it. 
port  of  a   I 
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n   chain,  ihr   !all'  ;    .-i^'.u;^"  ?•'•,    ued 

{   by  ::pars    •..•■    tiinbc!    r.i'  These 

■  f.jult  (il  a    !ct '.'titTit'i.t'.t' .         I  n  re- 

Cong^rc.^iv,  of  whr  ti  (jv,  -■    ...  Knox 


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-"Luc:    li  i|->  A  ii'v  p(  '!,t  "Jiii't/l  r\':-,-  '.  ■„■  .  ■:,■■,  .i-j-i    .  ri:i'  ■..   iv  .'i.  ..i 


^KTZI 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    47 

to  watch  his  every  movement.  Worn  out,  without 
food  or  shelter,  what  could  be  done  ?  A  night  of 
suffering  and  suspense  fell  upon  the  devoted  army, 
and  under  the  cover  of  the  darkness,  the  Americans 
crossed  the  river  and  completely  blocked  the  way 
before  him. 

Seeing  that  all  hope  was  gone,  on  the  13th,  he 
again  called  a  council  of  his  generals,  who  unani- 
mously decided  to  at  once  open  a  treaty  with 
General  Gates  for  a  surrender.  Even  while  they 
deliberated,  their  tent  was  perforated  with  rifle 
balls,  and  an  eighteen-pound  shot  swept  across  the 
table  at  which  they  were  seated.  On  the  T4th, 
Burgoyne  sent  Lieutenant-Colonel  Kingston  to 
the  camp  of  Gates  with  a  proposal  for  a  "  cessation 
of  arms  "  pending  negotiations  for  a  surrender.  This 
was  acceded  to,  and  on  the  15th  articles  of  "con- 
vention," as  Burgoyne  desired  to  call  them,  were  finally 
agreed  to.  These  articles  were  to  receive  his  sig- 
nature on  the  morning  of  the  i6th,  when  news  reached 
him  of  the  taking  of  the  forts  on  the  Hudson  by 
Clinton,  and  of  the  probability  of  his  presence  there 
at  this  time  with  his  forces.  He  at  once  called  a 
council  of  his  officers  to  see  if  he  could  get  their  sup- 
port in  breaking  the  agreement  with  Gates.  They 
decided  that  he  could  not  do  so  with  honor.  How- 
ever, he  resorted  to  a  pretext,  and  sent  word  to  Gates 
that  he  could  not  sign  the  articles  unless  convinced 
that  the  American  army  outnumbered  his  own  by  at 
least  three  or  four  to  one,  as  he  had  heard  that  he 


48     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

had  sent  a  part  of  his  army  to  Albany  during  the 
negotiations,  which  was  contrary  to  good  faith. 
This  Gates  denied  and  asserted  on  his  honor  that  his 
army  had  not  been  divided  in  order  to  relieve  Albany, 
and  was  even  stronger  than  when  negotiations  were 
entered  into.  He  moreover  drew  up  his  army  in  order 
of  battle  on  the  dawn  of  the  17th,  and  gave  Bur- 
goyne to  understand  that  he  must  sign  the  articles 
of  convention  or  prepare  for  battle.  His  generals 
urging  him,  Burgoyne  at  nine  o'clock  on  the  1 7th  of 
October,  finally  placed  his  reluctant  signature  to  the 
important  paper,  which  placed  his  army  as  prisoners 
in  the  power  of  a  lately  despised  foe.  At  eleven 
o'clock,  tne  splendid  army  which  had  left  Canada  a 
few  months  before,  now  shattered  and  disheartened, 
laid  down  its  arms  and  prepared  for  its  sad  march  to 
Boston  where  it  was  to  embark  for  England.  Bur- 
goyne in  full  court  dress  upon  which  he  had  bestowed 
great  care,  was  presented  to  Gates,  who  was  dressed 
in  a  plain  blue  overcoat,  and  after  the  introduction, 
the  captive  generals  proceeded  to  the  head-quarters 
of  Gates,  where  they  were  received  by  the  American 
generals  with  proper  courtesy.  Riedesel  immediately 
sent  for  his  brave  and  lovely  wife,  his  constant  com- 
panion in  so  many  trying  scenes,  who  came  at  once 
with  their  children  and  was  taken  charge  of  by  General 
Schuyler,  who  arranged  every  thing  possible  for  the 
comfort  of  herself  and  helpless  charge.  The  English 
and  German  generals  dined  in  the  tent  of  Gates  ; 
compliments  were  passed   and   healths   drunken  in 


>   % 


am 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    49 

strange  contrast  to  the  scenes  of  a  short  time  before. 
As  the  dinner  ended,  the  captive  army  began  its 
march  to  Boston,  while  Burgoyne  in  the  presence  of 
the  two  armies  drew  his  sword  and  presented  it  to 
Gates,  who  receiving  it  with  a  courteous  salute, 
returned  it  immediately  to  his  vanquished  foe,  who 
thus  closed  the  third  act  in  his  picturesque  but  tragic 
drama.  3^ 

But  another  act  must  be  added,  and  one  fraught 
with  momentous  interest  to  Burgoyne.  By  the 
articles  of  convention  which  he  had  just  signed,  he 
and  his  troops  were  to  embark  at  Boston  on  trans- 
ports to  be  sent  there  by  his  government.  This  was 
a  convenient  port  for  the  captive  army  to  reach,  and 
it  probably  did  not  occur  to  either  Burgoyne  or  Gates 
that  it  could  be  other  than  a  convenient  one  for 
embarkation.  Had  Burgoyne  objected  to  it,  Gates 
would  probably  have  yielded  to  his  views,  as  he  had 
become  alarmed  at  the  information  which  had  reached 
him  of  Clinton's  progress  up  the  Hudson,  and  desired 
to  bring  the  negotiations  to  a  speedy  conclusion. 
We  shall  see  that  in  selecting  Boston  as  his  port 
of  embarkation,  Burgoyne  was  most  unfortunate. 
After  a  tedious  march,  his  troops  divided  into  two 
columns  under  guard  of  a  force  of  Americans  reached 
Boston  on  November  the  sixth,  where  they  were  quar- 
tered in  barracks ;  the  Germans  on  Winter,  and  the 

^  Vide  Journal  of  Occurrences  during  the  Late  American 
War,  etc.  (Lamb),  Dublin,  1809,  p.  167;  A  State  of  the 
Expedition,  etc.,  Appendix  XV. 


I  MW«I 


50     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

British  on  Prospect  Hill,  while  quarters  were  provided 
for  the  officers  in  Cambridge  and  adjoining  towns. 
Wilkinson  was  dispatched  by  Gates  to  convey  the 
good  news  of  the  surrender  and  the  articles  of  con- 
vention to  Congress,  but  was  delayed  on  the  way  by 
illness,  and  the  news  arrived  some  time  before  he  was 
able  to  present  them  in  person.^^  He  found  that  copies 
of  the  articles  had  already  preceded  him,  and  that  a 
variety  of  opinions  prevailed  respecting  them.  Gates 
being  openly  blamed  for  the  too  liberal  concessions 
which  had  been  granted  to  a  foe,  who  it  was  claimed, 
was  wholly  in  his  power  ;  indeed,  Wilkinson  found  it 
necessary  to  defend  the  action  of  his  chief,  by  show- 
ing that  he  had  been  obliged  to  concede  many  points 
under  the  pressure  of  Clinton's  advance,  which  at  the 
time  was  threatening.  Washington  had  received 
news  of  the  surrender,  but  not  from  Gates,  who  only 
mentioned  it  to  him  incidentally  in  a  letter  more  than 
two  weeks  after  the  fact,^^  and  he  at  once  saw  that  if 

''Wide  A  State  of  the  Expedition,  Appendix  XV,  XVII. 

^  Lord  Mahon  remarking  upon  this  inexcusable  slight  of 
Washington  says,  that  he  "  evinced  his  usual  magnanimity. 
He  felt,  he  could  but  feel,  the  slights  put  upon  him  at 
this  period,  both  by  his  superio  s  and  by  his  subordinate, 
by  the  Congress  and  by  General  Gates.  But  he  allowed  no 
word  of  unworthy  complaint  to  fall  from  him."  His  letter 
to  Gates  was  characteristic.  He  congratulated  him  in 
frank  and  generous  terms,  but  in  closing  alluded  to  the  un- 
worthy act  of  his  subordinate  in  the  following  manly  words : 
"  At  the  same  time,  I  cannot  but  regret  that  a  matter  of 
such  magnitude,  and  so  interesting  to  our  general  operations, 
should  have  reached  me  by  report  only,  or  through  the  chan- 
nel of  letters  not  bearing  that  authenticity  which  the  im- 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    51 

the  captive  troops  were  enabled  to  embark  so  as  to 
reach  England  during  the  winter,  nothing  in  the 
convention  would  prevent  the  British  government 
from  assigning  them  to  garrison  duty,  thereby  reliev- 
ing a  corresponding  number  of  troops,  who  might  join 
in  the  spring  campaign  against  the  colonies.  He 
promptly  called  attention  to  this  fact,  and  in  reply  to 
Heath's  urgent  request  to  facilitate  their  removal 
as   soon   as    possible,^^   on    account    of    the    great 

portance  of  it  required,  and  which  it  would  have  received 
by  a  line  under  your  signature  stating  the  simple  fact." 
A.nd  subsequently  to  a  friend  he  wrote  :  "  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  all  will  yet  end  well.  If  the  cause  is  advanced,  it  is 
indifferent  to  me  where  or  in  what  quarter  it  happens." 
Shortly  after,  LaFayette  wrote  him  alluding  to  the  effort 
which  Gates  was  making  to  supplant  him.  **  When  I  was  in 
Europe, I  thought  that  here  almost  every  man  was  a  lover  of 
liberty.  You  can  conceive  my  astonishment  when  I  saw 
that  Toryism  was  as  apparently  professed  as  Whigism  itself. 
There  are  open  dissensions  in  Congress  ;  parties  who  hate 
one  another  as  much  as  the  common  enemy ;  men  who, 
without  knowing  any  thing  about  war,  undertake  to  judge 
you  and  to  make  ridiculous  comparisons.  They  are  infatu- 
ated with  Gates,  without  thinking  of  the  difference  of  cir- 
cumstances, and  believe  that  attacking  is  the  only  thing 
necessary  to  conquer."  Fortunately  for  the  cause,  the  ani- 
mus of  Washington's  enemies  became  apparent  and  their 
schemes  came  to  nought.  Vide  History  of  England  by  Lord 
Mahon,  London,  1858,  vol.  6,  p.  193  ;  Sparks'  Life  of  Wash- 
ington, vol.  5,  p.  124  et  seq.;  Letter  to  Patrick  Henry,  ibid.^ 
p.  147 ;  Marquis  de  LaFayette,  to  Washington,  Dec.  30, 1777, 

^®  Washington's  exact  words  are  as  follows :  "  As  you  have 
wrote  to  Congress  respecting  the  difficulty  of  supplying  the 
prisoners  of  General  Burgoyne's  army  with  quarters,  fuel 
and  provisions,  I  imagine  they  will  give  proper  directions  in 
the  matter.    I  do  not  think  it  to  our  interest  to  expedite 


^m 


52     T/ie  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

burden  which  they  would  be  to  the  distressed  inhab- 
itants of  Boston,  he  reminded  him  that  it  would  be 
impolitic  to  hasten  their  departure,  going  so  far 
indeed  as  to  advise  that  they  should  not  be  furnished 
with,  nor  allowed  to  purchase  provisions  in  the 
country  for  their  voyage  home.  He  also  suggested 
that  Burgoyne  would  probably  apply  to  have  the 
place  of  embarkation  changed  to  a  port  farther  south, 
as  the  transports  would  hardly  be  able  to  make  the 
port  of  Boston  so  late  in  the  season,  but  this,  he 
said,  could  not  be  asked  as  a  matter  of  right,  since 

the  passage  of  the  prisoners  to  England ;  for  you  may  de- 
pend upon  it  that  they  will,  immediately  upon  their  arrival 
there,  throw  them  into  different  garrisons,  and  bring  out  an 
equal  number.  Now,  if  they  sail  in  December,  they  may 
arrive  time  enough  to  take  the  places  of  others  who  may  be 
out  in  May,  which  is  as  early  as  a  campaign  can  be  well  en- 
tered upon.  I  look  upon  it  that  their  principal  difficulty 
will  arise  from  the  want  of  provisions  for  the  voyage  ;  and, 
therefore,  although  I  would  supply  them  with  every  article 
agreeable  to  stipulation,  I  would  not  furnish  an  ounce  for  sea 
store,  nor  suffer  it  to  be  purchased  in  the  country."  In  con- 
sidering this  last  clause  in  vVashington's  letter,  one  should 
bear  in  mind  the  great  scarcity  of  provisions  then  prevail- 
ing in  the  country  ;  indeed,  the  question  of  the  subsistence 
of  his  own  troops  was  one  which  caused  him  constant  anx- 
iety. In  this  same  letter  he  says:  "The  present  state  of 
the  commissary's  department  gives  me  great  uneasiness,"  and 
somewhat  later,  "  the  state  of  the  commissary's  department 
has  given  me  more  concern  of  late  than  any  thing  else. 
Unless  matters  in  that  line  are  speedily  taken  up  and  put  in 
a  better  train,  the  most  alarming  consequences  are  to  be  ap- 
prehended." Moreover,  it  was  but  proper  that  provisions 
for  the  sea  voyage  should  be  furnished  from  the  magazines 
of  General  Howe.  Vide  Washington's  Letters  to  Heath, 
Part  I,  pp.  77-79- 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.     53 

Boston  was  the  only  port  agreed  upon,  and  should  not 
be  granted  as  a  favor,  since  it  would  prove  of  dis- 
advantage to  the  American  cause/°  This  view  of  the 
case  was  also  communicated  to  Congress,  and  served 
as  the  key-note  to  all  its  subsequent  action  in  the 
premises. 

Application  was  made  to  change  the  place  of 
embarkation  to  Newport,  but  permission  was  not 
granted. 

Occasions  soon  arose  to  complicate  affairs.  It 
had  been  stipulated  that  subsistence  should  be  sup- 
plied to  Burgoyne's  men  at  the  same  cost  as  to 
the  American  troops  in  the  vicinity.  One  dollar 
in  specie  was  at  this  time  equivalent  to  about 
three  dollars  in  continental  currency,  yet  Congress 
gave  orders  that  General  Heath  should  demand 
payment  in  specie.  This  would  have  been  well 
enough  if  the  price  had  been  estimated  at  the 
specie  value,  but  naturally,  values  were  adjusted 
to  the  currency  of  the  country.  The  question 
was  too  simple  it  would  seem  for  discussion, 
since  it  depended  wholly  upon  a  fact,  namely, 
whether  prices  were  calculated  at  the  currency  value 
or  not ;  and  yet  Burgoyne  whose  expenses  were 
$20,000  a  week,  was  asked  to  pay  for  his  supplies  a 
sum  in  gold,  which  changed  into  the  currency  of 
the  country  would  purchase  nearly  three  times  the 
quantity  which  he  received.     This  was  certainly  un- 


40 


Vide  Sparks'  Life  of  Washington,  vol.  5,  pp.  144,  147. 


mmm 


54     TAe  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Btirgoyne. 

fair,  and  cannot  be  adjusted  to  any  system  of  ethics 
with  which  we  are  conversant.  It  is  but  just  how- 
ever to  Washington  to  say,  that  he  protested 
against  this  exaction,  which  he  said  would  "  destroy 
the  idea  of  a  cartel.""^'  Another  question  was  raised 
which  was  reasonable  and  sufficient.  Burgoyne  was 
in  arrears  for  his  supplies,  since  it  was  no  easy  mat- 
ter at  this  time  to  get  remittances  from  England, 
and  he  was  given  to  understand  that  he  would  not 
be  permitted  to  embark  until  all  indebtedness  was 
canceled,  "  by  an  actual  deposit  of  the  money."'*'  All 
these  obstructions  to  his  plans  caused  him  anxiety 
and  awakened  indignation  which  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  express.  Various  annoyances  arose.  Descrip- 
tive lists  of  his  officers  and  men  were  demanded, 
that  a  proper  record  might  be  made  for  future  use, 
a  demand  which  he  denominated  an  insult  to  his 
nation,  but  finally  acceded  to.  An  inquiry  was  also 
instituted  relative  to  the  colors  of  the  regiments, 
the  military  chest,  etc.,  which  were  not  found  in 
the  return  by  General  Gates  of  property  delivered 
him  by  Burgoyne  in  accordance  with  the  articles  of 
convention.  This  was  a  proper  inquiry,  and  it 
was  resolved  fairly  enough,  that  the  embarkation 
was  not  to  be  delayed  on  account  of  it.  The 
inquiry  was  directed  to  Gates,  who  replied  that  the 
custom  during  the  last  war  had  been  foi   the  mili- 

^'Wide  Sparks'  Life  of  Washington,  vol.  5,  p.  307. 

*^Vide  Washington's  Letter  to  Congress,  Dec.  14,  1777,  in 
Sparks'  Life,  vol.  5,  p.  187. 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoytie.    55 

tary  chest  to  be  kept  in  some  secure  town  by 
the  paymaster-general,  upon  whom  warrants  were 
granted,  and  that  "  from  the  best  accounts,  the  enemy's 
army  had  been  lately  cleared  off ;  so  that  it  is  not  prob- 
able there  was  any  military  chest."  With  respect 
to  the  colors,  he  affirmed  that  General  Burgoyne 
declared  upon  his  honor,  that  his  regimental  colors 
were  left  in  Canada.  These  last  inquiries  arose  from 
**  suspicions  that  the  convention  had  not  been  strictly 
complied  with  on  the  part  of  General  Burgoyne, 
agreeable  to  its  true  spirit,  and  the  intention  of  the 
contracting  parties." '♦^  We  shall  see  that  these  sus- 
picions had  a  basis  in  fact.  Indeed,  General  Wilkin- 
son intimates  that  Gates  was  cognizant  of  this  in 
spite  of  his  reply  to  Congress,  as  he  wished  to 
shield  himself  from  blame  as  far  as  possible,  on 
account  of  his  loose  dealing  in  the  matter.'"  Madame 
Riedesel  states  in  her  journal,  that  the  colors  of  the 
German  regiments  were  secreted  in  her  bed,  and 
were  afterward  sent  in  the  mattress  of  an  officer  to 
Halifax  where  her  husband  subsequently  found 
them.'^s  Of  the  English  colors,  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  they  were  -left  in  Canada.  The 
colors  of  the  Sixty-second  regiment  were  on  the 
field  on  the  19th  of  September,'^^  and  we   have   an 


^^Vide  Journals  of  Congress,  Jan.  8,  1778,  p.  42. 

**Vtde  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  p.  303  et  seq. 

*' Fid?!?  Letters  and  Journals  of  Madame  Riedesel,  Albany, 
1869  (Stone),  p.  143  et  seq. 

*^Vide  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  p.  304. 


56     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

interesting  account  of  the  colors  of  the  Ninth, 
which  were  concealed  in  the  baggage  of  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Hill,  and  were  by  him  presented  to 
the  king  upon  his  return  home/^  How  Burgoyne 
could  have  stated  that  they  were  left  in  Canada  is 
inexplicable.  Had  this  concealment  of  the  colors 
been  known  at  the  time,  it  would  have  afforded 
good  ground  for  Congress  to  declare  the  convention 
broken  ;  as  it  was,  it  had  no  proof  whatever  of  the 
matter,  and  it  was  doubtless  believed  that  they  had 
been  burnt  by  those  having  them  in  custody,  that 
they  might  not  become  trophies  to  the  enemy ; 
hence,  the  matter  of  these  inquiries  relative  to 
the  concealment  of  property,  which  rightfully  should 
have  been  delivered  to  Gates  at  the  surrender, 
afforded  no  ground  whatever  for  Congress  to 
detain  the  convention  prisoners.  Doubtless  an 
impression  prevailed  in  this  season  of  exaggerated 
sentiment,  when  suspicion,  jealousy  and  prejudice 
necessarily  held  sway,  that  if  the  convention  pris- 
oners were  allowed  to  return  to  England,  they 
would  break  their  paroles  and  re-enter  the  service 
against  the  colonies,  an  impression  which  was  unrea- 
sonable and  unworthy  of  indulgence.  We  know, 
that  even  Congress  did  not  hesitate  to  openly  charge 
"  former  frauds  in  the  conduct  of  our  enemies,"  which 
caused  Burgoyne  to  declare  his  **  consternation  in 
finding  the    British   honor   in    treaties   impeached." 

'^''Vide  Historical  Record  of  the  Ninth  Foot  (Cannon), 
p.  32  et  seq. 


1 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.     57 

Every  utterance  of  the  British  general  was  carefully 
scanned,  and  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  General 
Gates  served  to  strengthen  the  impression  spoken 
of.  In  this  letter,  dated  November  14th,  complaining 
of  the  quarters  which  had  been  assigned  to  his  troops 
and  which  were  undoubtedly  quite  unfit  for  them,  he 
used  these  words :  "  While  I  state  10  you,  sir,  this 
very  unexpected  treatment,  I  entirely  acquit  M.  Gen. 
Heath  and  every  gentleman  of  the  military  depart- 
ment of  any  inattention  to  the  publick  faith  engaged  in 
the  convention.  They  do  what  they  can,  but  while  the 
supreme  powers  of  the  State  are  unable  or  unwilling  to 
enforce  their  authority,  and  the  inhabitants  want  the 
hospitality  or  indeed  the  common  civilization  to  assist 
us  without  it,  the  publick  faith  is  broke  and  we  are 
the  immediate  sufferers."*^   These  words,  "  the  publick 

*^Fij'^^Lieutenant-General  John  Burgoyne  and  the  Conven- 
tion of  Saratoga,  p.  35,  by  Charles  Deane,  LL.  D.,  Worces- 
ter, 1878,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred  for  an  able  state- 
ment of  the  subject.  The  connection  of  Gates  with  the 
efforts  being  made  to  evade  the  obligations  of  the  conven- 
tion has  not  heretofore  been  especially  noticed.  While  his 
position,  being  a  party  to  the  compact,  rendered  it  proper 
that  he  should  at  least  remain  neutral,  we  find  that  he  was 
active  in  suggesting  pretexts  for  an  evasion  of  that  compact. 
A  letter  of  his  to  General  Washington  under  date  of  No- 
vember 23d,  has  been  published,  in  which  he  says:  "  If  Gen- 
eral Burgoyne  has  any  sinister  design,  what  I  suggested  to 
Congress  in  my  letter  of  the  loth  instant,  a  copy  of  which 
I  conclude  your  excellency  has  received,  will  be  a  good 
method  of  delaying,  if  not  final  preventing,  the  execution 
of  his  project."  The  letter  of  the  loth  of  November  here 
alluded  to,  though  often  sought  for  without  success,  was  re- 
cently placed  in  my  hands  b^  tn*,  kindness  of  Mr.  A.  R. 

8 


58     The  Campaigns  of  Carlcton  and  Btirgoyne. 

faith  isbrokcy'  were  immediately  caught  up  as  a  notice 
from  Burgoyne  that  he  considered  the  terms  of  the 
convention  broken,  and  although  he  denied  any  such 
intention,  and  even  offered  to  re*afifirm  them  by  the 
signatures  of  his  officers  if  desired  so  to  do,  he  was  not 
listened  to,  but  Congress  resolved  that  these  words 
indicated  his  intention  and  afforded  "  just  grounds  of 
fear."  that  he  would  "avail  himself  of  such  pretended 
breach  of  the  convention,  in  order  to  disengage  him- 
self and  the  army  imder  him  of  the  obligations  they 
are  under  to  these  United  States ;  and  that  the 
security  which  these  States  have  had  in  his  personal 
honor  is  hereby  destroyed,"  and  they  further  resolved 
to  suspend  the  embarkation  "  till  a  distinct  and 
explicit  ratification  of  the  convention  of  Saratoga 
shall  be  properly  notified  by  the  Court  of  Great 
Britain."'^^     This  requirement,  Congress  must  have 


Spofford,  the  librarian  of  Congress,  and  by  it  we  see  what 
General  Gates  considered  "  a  good  method  "  of  delaying,  "  if 
not  final  preventing  "  the  fulfillment  of  the  terms  of  the  con- 
vention. He  says  "  It  has  occurr'd  to  me,  that  should  Sir 
William  Howe  still  Obstinately  refuse  to  settle  an  equitable 
Cartel,  for  the  Exchange  of  Prisoners,  that  Congress  would 
be  Justified,  in  Ordering  the  fulfiling  the  Convention  of  Sar- 
atoga to  be  delayed,  until  the  United  States  received  Justice 
in  that  particular.  At  any  rate,  there  will  be  very  few  of 
Genl.  Burgoyne's  soldiers  to  Embark,  as  most  of  the  Ger- 
mans, and  a  great  many  of  the  British,  have  deserted  upon 
their  march  towards  Boston,  and  numbers  more  will  yet 
Desert."  This  letter  was  directed  to  the  president  of  Con- 
gress, and  the  original  is  in  the  State  department  at  Wash- 
ington. 

^®  Vide  Journal  of  Congress,  Jan.  8,  1777,  p.  43. 


The  Campaigns  of  Carlcton  and  Biirgoy^ic.     59 


■% 


I 


'.f 


1   A 


known  the  British  governme»^t  could  not  comply 
with.  For  it  to  have  ratified  thsi  convention  formally 
would  have  been  to  recognize  the  colonies  as  bel- 
ligerents, which  was  tantamount  to  a  recognition  of 
their  independence ;  yet  Sir  Henry  Clinton  went  so 
far  as  to  offer  by  authority  of  the  crown,  a  renewal 
of  all  the  obligations  of  the  convention,  an  offer 
which  was  not  accepted.  It  had  evidently  been 
determined  to  detain  the  captured  army  as  prisoners 
of  war.  The  severe  strain  to  which  Burgoyne  had 
been  subjected  had  seriously  impaired  his  health,  and 
he  obtained  leave  to  return  to  England  on  parole, 
agreeing  to  return  whenever  Congress  demanded  it. 
He  took  passage  home  on  the  Grampus  sloop  of  war 
from  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  on  April  20th,  1778, 
and  landed  at  Portsmouth,  England,  on  May  13th. 
Before  leaving,  he  paid  in  specie  a  large  sum  for  sup- 
plies to  his  troops  on  their  march  from  Saratoga  which 
General  Glover  5°  had  advanced  in  Continental  cur- 


^°John  Glover  was  born  in  Salem  November  5,  1732. 
While  a  young  man,  he  with  three  brothers  removed  to 
Marblehead,  where  for  a  while  he  practiced  his  trade  of 
shoemaking ;  but  being  ambitious  to  advance  his  fortunes, 
he  embarked  in  mercantile  business  and  became  one  of  the 
leading  merchants  of  the  province.  He  was  early  in  life 
interested  in  military  affairs,  and  in  1759,  was  ensign  in 
Captain  Read's  company  of  militia;  in  1762,  a  lieutenant  in 
Captain  Orne's  company,  and  in  1773,  a  captain  in  Colonel 
Fowle's  regiment.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  he  was  made 
colonel  of  a  regiment  called  Glover's  Marblehead  regiment, 
the  uniform  of  which  consisted  of  a  blue  jacket  and  trousers 
adorned  with  leather  buttons.  On  the  22d  of  June,  1775,  he 
was  ordered  with  his  regiment  to  Cambridge.     On  the  1st 


6o     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 


rency,  and  in  order  to  avoid  the  unfair  exactions 
imposed  upon  him,  of  paying  in  specie  for  supplies  to 
the  troops  left  behind,  he  arranged  to  repay  in  kind 
for  supplies  advanced  to  them  by  the  American 
commander.  Provisions  were  to  be  shipped  from  the 
British  commissary  department  on  transports,  which 
were  to  be  allowed  to  enter  Boston  and  depart  from 
it  unmolested.  A  large  sum  was  left  in  pledge  for  the 
performance  of  this  contract,  and  the  provisions  were 
regularly  shipped  for  the  maintenance  of  the  troops; 
but  advantage  was  taken  here,  and  great  expense 
was  incr  ed  in  handling  and  storing  the  supplies 
after  their  arrival,  payment  for  which  was  demc.ided 


of  January,  1776,  Glover's  regiment  was  reorganized  as  the 
Fourteenth  Continental  regiment,  and  on  the  9th  of  August, 
joined  Sullivan's  brigade  at  New  York.  After  the  battle 
of  Long  Island,  Glover's  regiment  of  sailors  and  fisher- 
men, succeeded  by  their  skill  in  transporting  the  army 
in  vessels  and  boats  safely  across  the  river.  "  This 
extraordinary  retreat,"  says  Washington  Irving,  "  which,  in 
silence  and  celerity,  equaled  the  midnight  fortifying  of 
Bunker's  Hill,  was  one  of  the  most  signal  achievements  of 
the  war,  and  redounded  greatly  to  the  reputation  of  Wash- 
ington. It  may  be  truly  said,  thai  by  Glover's  efforts  the 
army  was  saved  from  destruction.  On  the  23d  of  February, 
1777,  Glover  was  created  a  brigadier-general,  and  in  the 
succeeding  summer  sailed  with  his  brigade  to  reinforce 
Schuyler  at  Saratoga.  In  the  arduous  service  which  fol- 
lowed, Glover's  brigade  was  one  of  the  most  efficient,  and 
suffered  severe  loss.  At  the  battle  of  October  7th,  Glover 
had  three  horses  shot  under  him.  His  brigade  formed  part 
of  Washington's  army  at  Valley  Forge,  and  in  June,  1778, 
Glover  assumed  command  of  Fort  Arnold  near  West  Point. 
From  this  time  he  was  in  active  service  until  July,  1782, 
when  owing  to  failiiig  health,  the  result  of  exposure  and 


I 


•1 


•1 


7»iS 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    6i 

in  specie,  although  General  Heath^'  paid  the  expense 
in  currency,  of  which  at  this  time  it  took  about  four 
dollars  to  equal  the  value  of  one  dollar  in  gold. 
General  Heath  called  the  attention  of  Congress  to 
this  unfair  exaction,  but  it  was  promptly  resolved  to 
continue  it  ;  so  that  after  all,  not  much  was  saved 
by  the  British  government  in  this  attempt  to  victual 
the  convention  prisoners.  This  condition  of  affairs, 
however,  could  not  continue  indefinitely,  and  find- 
ing that  there  was  no  prospect  that  the  American 

hardship,  he  retired  on  half  pay.  His  death  took  place 
January  30,  1797.  Vide  Pictorial  Field-Book  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, New  York,  1855,  vol.  II,  pp.  34,  606,  609,  128,  ct passim. 
History  and  Traditions  of  Marblehead,  Boston,  1880,  pp. 
117,  et  seq.,  140-153,  157,  et  passim. 

^^  William  Heath  was  born  in  1737,  in  Roxbury,  Massa- 
chusetts, where  his  ancestors  had  settled  in  1636.  He  says  of 
himself  that  he  was  "  of  the  fifth  generation  of  the  family 
who  have  inherited  the  same  real  estate  (taken  up  in  a  state 
of  nature),  not  large,  but  fertile  and  pleasantly  situated." 
From  youth  he  says  that  he  procured  and  studied  atten- 
tively "every  militai^  treatise  in  the  English  language 
which  was  attainable."  In  1770,  he  was  captain  of  an 
artillery  company,  and  was  a  writer  under  the  tiom  de  plume 
of  "  A  Military  Countryman  "  for  the  Boston  Gazette.  In 
these  articles  he  advocated  the  study  of  arms,  and  in  one  of 
them  used  these  extraordinary  words  :  "  It  is  more  than 
probable  that  the  salvation  of  this  country,  under  heaven, 
will  sooner  or  later  depend  upon  a  well-regulated  militia." 
Having  been  commissioned  a  captain  in  the  Suffolk  regi- 
ment, and  subsequently  superseded  by  Hutchinson,  he  was 
chosen  in  1774,  captain  of  the  first  company  of  Roxbury, 
and  the  same  year  colonel  of  the  Suffolk  regiment.  He  was 
a  delegate  to  the  Provincial  Congresses  of  1774  and  1775. 
In  June  of  the  latter  year  he  was  made  a  provincial  major-, 
general,  and  in  the  August  following,  the  Continental  Con- 


62     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne, 


Congress  would  allow  the  convention  prisoners 
to  return  to  England,  General  Clinton  gave  notice 
that  he  should  cease  supplying  them  with  subsist- 
ence, and  that  they  would  have  to  be  provided  for  as 
were  other  prisoners  of  war.  It  now  being  feared 
that  a  rescue  might  be  attempted,  they  were,  In  No- 
vember, 1 778,  a  year  after  their  capture,  compelled  to 
take  up  their  weary  march  for  Virginia.  There,  as  we 
know,  they  remained  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
Whether  the  American  government,  or  rather  the 
American  Congress,  for  this  was  all  the  government 

gress  conferred  upon  him  the  same  rank.  He  was  the  only 
general  officer  at  the  famous  battle  of  Lexington,  and 
organized  and  directed  the  hardy  farmers,  who  on  that  occa- 
sion put  the  British  regulars  to  flight.  Heath  commanded 
a  division  during  the  siege  of  Boston,  and  was  at  the  head 
of  the  eastern  department  in  1777,  and  subsequently  was 
assigned  to  a  post  on  the  Hudson.  He  returned  to  his  farm 
at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was  a  delegate  to  the  conven- 
tion which  adopted  the  Federal  Constitution  in  1788  ;  was  a 
State  senator  in  1791-92,  and  judge  of  probate  for  Norfolk 
county  from  1793  until  his  death,  January  24,  18 14.  Eight 
years  previous  to  this  date  he  had  been  chosen  lieutenant- 
governor  of  his  native  State,  an  honor  which  he  declined.  He 
was  a  great  friend  of  Washington  for  whom  he  possessed  a 
remarkable  admiration.  When  Washington  parted  with 
him,  he  gave  him  a  letter  testifying  Lo  his  faithfulness,  and 
this  letter  he  valued  beyond  price.  Wnen  Brissot  de  War- 
ville  visited  him  at  his  farm  in  1788,  Heath  said:  "This 
letter  is  a  jewel  which,  in  my  eyes,  surpasses  all  the  eagles 
and  all  the  ribbons  in  the  world."  Vide  Memoirs  of  Wil- 
liam Heath,  Boston,  1798.  The  Town  of  Roxbury,  Rox- 
bury,  1878,  pp.  387-390.  New  Travels  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  Dublin,  1792  (J.  P.  Brissot  De  Warville),  p. 
117.  Pictorial  Field-Book  of  the  Revolution,  vol.  I,  pp.  190, 
566.  II,  pp.  614  et  seq. 


'\' 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    63 

that  the  United  States  then  possessed,  acted  justly 
with  regard  to  the  convention,  is  left  for  those  who  are 
interested  in  the  question  to  judge.  We  know  from 
the  history  of  similar  assemblies  composed  of  men 
of  various  degrees  of  moral  dignity,  and  in  some 
measure  relieved  from  personal  responsibility,  that 
questions  possessing  elements  of  a  political  nature 
are  not  apt  to  receive  the  same  careful  treatment, 
which  would  be  bestowed  upon  them  by  a  judicial 
tribunal  removed  from  popular  influence  and  feel- 
ing the  direct  weight  of  moral  responsibility ;  or 
indeed  from  an  individual  occupying  a  like  position ; 
hence  we  ought  not  to  be  over  surprised  at  the 
action  of  our  first  Congress  ^'^  in  this  matter  of  the 
Saratoga  convention.  That  convention  was  entered 
into  in  good  faith  by  the  contracting  parties,  and 
should  have  been  justly  carried  out   in  letter  and 

^"^  In  all  great  struggles  in  which  imperfect  men  engage, 
there  are  those  who  ally  themselves  to  the  cause  of 
right,  and  who  acquit  themselves  valiantly,  yet  are  domi- 
nated in  all  they  undertake  by  selfishness.  It  was  so 
in  our  great  struggle  for  freedom,  and  it  is  painful  to  con- 
template the  fact,  that  many  of  the  mer  who  donned  the 
spotless  armor  of  patriotism  and  won  thereby  the  admira- 
tion of  their  fellows,  were  self-seekers  in  the  worst  sense  of 
tlie  term.  Even  Washington  justly  used  the  following  terms 
in  speaking  of  some  of  his  contemporaries,  who  were  appar- 
ently ardent  supporters  of  the  noble  cause  for  which  he  and 
a  few  other  pure  patriots  like  himself  were  willing  to  sacri- 
fice their  lives  and  all  they  held  dear.  **  Such  a  dearth  of 
public  [spirit]  and  want  of  virtue ;  such  stock-jobbing  and 
fertility  in  all  the  low  arts  to  obtain  advantages  of  some 
kind  or  another  in  this  great  charge  of  military  management, 
I  never  saw  before,  and  pray  God  I  may  never  be  witness  to 


64     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 


spirit  by  the  American  Congress.  It  seems  to  have 
failed  from  considerations  of  policy  so  to  act,  just  as 
any  similarly  composed  body  of  men  in  any  other 
portion  of  the  globe  might  at  that  time  have  failed 
to  act,  and  while  we  may  not  excuse,  we  may  per- 
haps in  some  measure  mitigate  our  chagrin  with  this 
consideration,  though  we  should  have  rejoiced  had 
it  taken  higher  ground  than  any  other  government 
in  the  world  would  have  been  likely  to  take  at  that 
period.  Burgoyne  sailed  for  home,  feeling  keenly  the 
injustice  which  he  deemed  had  been  practiced  upon 
him  by  the  American  government ;  but  if  that  gov- 
ernment treated  him  unjustly,  his  own  subsequently 
treated  him  with  still  greater  injustice. 

The  disaster  to  Burgoyne's  army  had  not  been 
unexpected  in  England.  When  the  rumor  of 
Howe's  erratic  expedition  against  Philadelphia  and 
apparent  abandonment  of  the  plan  of  co-operation 
with  Burgoyne  reached  England,  several  weeks  before 
the  latter's  surrender,  although  the  public  mind  was  in 
a  state  of  elation  at  his  success  at  Ticonderoga,  it 
was  thrown  into  consternation,  and  predictions  of 
defeat  were  in  the  air.  Even  Germaine  admitted  to 
one  of  his  noble  friends,  that  Howe  had  ruined  his 
plans  by  not  operating  in  conjunction  with  Bur- 
goyne, and  the  ministers  hastened  to  send  orders  to 

again."  Letter  of  Washington  to  Joseph  Reed,  February 
10,  1776.  Happily  for  the  cause  of  human  progress,  there 
was  after  all  enough  of  public  spirit  and  virtue  to  overbal- 
ance the  self-seeking  and  vicious  spirit  which  prevailed,  and 
the  right  triumphed,  as  it  ever  must  triumph,  in  the  long  run. 


The  Campaig7is  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.    65 

the  latter  not  to  attempt  to  advance  beyond  Albany 
until  he  could  bring  about  concerted  action  with 
Howe.  So  much  apprehension  respecting  Bur- 
goyne's  position  was  felt  in  London,  that  a  states- 
man of  the  day,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  as  early  as 
November  2d,  said  :  "  I  believe  it  is  also  true 
that  a  very  great  man  said  within  these  few  days, 
that  he  expected  accounts  of  a  general  defeat  very 
soon,""  and  Chatham,  two  weeks  before  the  news 
reached  England,  spoke  of  "  the  sufferings,  perhaps 
the  total  loss  of  the  northern  army."  Tidings  of 
the  disaster  reached  England  on  the  2d  of  Decem- 
ber, and  on  the  next  day  Colonel  Barn'^  called  upon 
Germaine,  "  to  declare  upon  his  honour  what  was  be- 
come of  General  Burgoyne  and  his  troops.  Lord 
North  admitted,  in  reply,  that  very  disastrous  infor- 
mation had  reached  him  from  Canada.  A  fierce 
outburst  against  the  ministry  followed.  Motions 
were  made  in  both  houses  of  Parliament  for  papers. 
They  were,  however,  successfully  resisted  on  the 
ground  that  no  official  information  had  been  re- 
ceived, "5"^  and  the  ministry  succeeded  in  adjourning 
Parliament.  Said  Shelburne,  "  talk  to  them  about 
truth.  Like  Pilate  they  waived  the  question  and 
adjourned  the  court."  Burgoyne's  dispatches  an- 
nouncing his  surrender  reached  the  ministry  on  the 
1 2th,  and  excited  the  ridicule  of  his  enemies  by  its 

*^The  Duke  of  Richmond  to  Lord  Rockingham. 

'•^  Vide  Life  of  William,  Earl  of  Shelburne,  London,  1876, 
vol.  Ill,  p.  10  et  seq. 


66     The  Campaigns  of  Carletori  and  Btirgoyne. 


sonorous  character,"  although  the  passage  most  ridi- 
culed was  strictly  true.  This  was  to  the  effect  that 
he  had  "  dictated  the  terms  of  surrender."  The 
news  of  the  disaster  fired  the  popular  spirit,  and 
subscriptions  were  at  once  started  throughout  the 
kingdom  to  raise  and  equip  regiments.  The  min- 
istry was  bitterly  assailed,  and  especially  Germaine, 
who  resorted  to  every  means  in  his  power  to  shield 
himself  by  throwing  the  responsibility  of  the  dis- 
aster upon  Burgoyne.  Germaine  himself  was  sug- 
gestively reticent  ;  but  his  friends  and  supporters 
were  alert  and  blatant.  This  was  the  condition  of 
affairs  which  Burgoyne,  broken  in  health  and  spirits, 
met  upon  reaching  London.  Apparently  without 
realizing  the  situation,  he  at  once  waited  upon  Ger- 
maine, who  received  him  with  marks  of  friendship 
and  drew  upon  his  confidence,  thus  gaining  facts 
of  importance.  It  was  agreed  between  them  to 
arrange  an  inquiry,  an  order  for  which  had  al- 
ready been  prepared  and  was  then  in  the  pocket 
of  Germaine.  At  this  juncture,  Burgoyne  discov- 
ered that  he  was  to  submit  to  the  "  etiquette "  of 
not  appearing  at  court,  by  which  means  he  was 
to  be  kept    from  seeing  the  king^^  and  impressing 

^  "  The  style  charmed  every  reader ;  but  he  had  better 
have  beaten  the  enemy  and  misspelt  every  word  of  his  dis- 
patch, for  so,  probably,  the  great  Duke  of  Marlborough 
would  have  done,  both  by  one  and  the  other."  Mrs.  Inch- 
bald  in  Preface  to  the  Heiress. 

■^  Vtde  a  letter  from  Lieutenant-General  Burgoyne  to  his 
constituents  upon  his  late  resignation,  etc.,  London,  1779. 


3 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Biirgoyne.    67 

him  with  a  knowledge  of  the  true  state  of  the  case. 
This,  Burgoyne,  whose  eyes  were  now  open  to  the 
artifice  of  the  minister,  refused  to  accede  to,  and 
an  open  war  between  him  and  Germaine  followed. 
Burgoyne  demanded  a  court  -  martial,  which  was 
denied  him  on  the  ground  that  he  was  then  a 
prisoner  of  war,  a  novel  position  to  assume  but  one 
not  without  plausible  features,  and  he  then  decided 
to  appeal  to  the  country.  Upon  claiming  his  seat 
in  the  Commons,  to  which  he  was  entitled  as  the 
representative  of  Preston,  he  was  met  with  the  objec- 
tion which  had  before  proved  potent,  that  he  was  a 
prisoner  of  war,  and  therefore  not  entitled  to  a  seat 
in  Parliament ;  but  happily  this  objection  failed  to 
be  sustained,  and  on  the  21st  day  of  May  he  took 
his  seat  and  asked  for  an  investigation  of  his  con- 
duct. A  day  was  assigned  for  him  to  make  his 
statement,  which  was  to  the  effect  that  no  discre- 
tionary powers  had  been  granted  to  him  by  the  min- 
istry in  carrying  out  his  Instructions ;  but  that  they 
were  "positive,  peremptory  and  indispensable." 
Burgoyne  seconded  a  motion  to  inquire  into  his  con- 
duct of  the  campaign,  but  Germaine,  who  dreaded 
an  investigation,  succeeded  in  defeating  the  motion. 
This  unfair  treatment  gained  him  friends  and  re- 
vived the  popular  interest  in  him,  and  his  opponents 
becoming  alarmed,  it  was  determined  to  get  him  out  of 
the  way  ;  hence  the  king  was  persuaded  to  order 
him  back  to  America  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  although 
no  demand  had  been  made  for  his  return  by  the 


samts 


pmi^siyB 


68     T/ie  Campaigns  of  Carleton  aud  Burgoyne. 

American  government.  This  was  an  extraordinary 
proceeding  and  revealed  the  desperate  straits  to 
which  the  ministry  was  reduced.  Against  this  Injus- 
tice Burgoyne  remonstrated  so  forcibly,"  chat  the 
king  was  compelled  to  suspend  his  order,  and  the 
persecuted  general  proceeded  to  publish  an  address 
to  his  constituents  on  the  conduct  of  the  campaign 
in  America,  which  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
English  people,  for  the  first  time,  the  full  history  of 
the  matters  at  issue  ;  at  the  same  time  he  applied 
himself  assiduously  to  obtain  a  ratification  of  the  Sar- 
atoga convention,  that  his  captive  army  might  be 
liberated.  To  counteract  the  influence  of  his  state- 
ments, which  were  gaining  him  many  adherents,  he 
was  vilified  and  abused  by  his  opponents  without 
stint.  He  was  accused  of  employing  savages  and 
sanctioning  their  barbarities  ;  of  artfully  supplanting 
Carleton,  and  maliciously  destroying  property  on  his 
march  toward  Albany,  all  of  which  charges  he  fairly 
refuted  at  the  first  opportunity. ^'^  At  the  next  ses- 
sion of  Parliament,  Burgoyne  renewed  his  efforts  to 
obtain  a  vindication  of  his  conduct,  openly  charging 
the  ministry  with  double  dealing.^^  and  he  so  far  suc- 

^^  In  a  letter  to  the  war  office,  June  5,  1779,  he  asserted 
that  his  health  was  such  that  to  expose  his  constitution  to 
another  American  winter  would,  in  all  probability,  doom 
him  to  the  grave.      Vide  ibid.,  pp.  22,  26. 

■^^  Vide  Speech  on  a  Motion  made  by  Mr.  Vyner  in  the 
Parliament,  May  .  >,  1778. 

'•^  Vide  Speech  on  the  Review  of  the  Evidence  in  the 
House  of  Commons;  also.  Speech  of  December  14,  and 
April  22,  1779. 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Btirgoyne.    69 

ceeded  as  to  gain  permission  to  present  his  case, 
which  he  prepared  most  elaborately,  supporting 
his  position  in  a  convincing  manner  by  documentary 
evidence  and  the  testimony  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton 
and  officers  in  his  command  ;  but  the  ministry 
becoming  alarmed  at  the  damaging  nature  of  his 
revelations,  brought  matters  to  a  summary  con- 
clusion by  a  sudden  prorogation  of  Parliament,  and 
he  again  received  the  royal  command  to  return  to 
America.  This  he  refused  to  do,  and  resigned  all  his 
valuable  appointments  except  that  of  lieutenant- 
general.  He  was  stranded,  but  not  disheartened  ; 
for  he  put  the  printing  press  into  requisition,  and 
under  the  title  of  the  "  State  of  the  Expedition  from 
Canada,"  a  book  which  he  dedicated  to  his  captive 
army,  he  presented  to  justice-loving  Englishmen  a  full 
account  of  the  proceedings.  In  vain  was  he  assailed 
by  anonymous  pamphlets,  one  of  which  was  attrib- 
uted to  Germaine  ;^°  the  sentiment  of  unprejudiced 

^  This  pamphlet  is  entitled  "  A  Reply  to  Linitcnajit-Gen- 
eral  Burgoyne  s  Letter  to  his  Constituents^''  and  bears  for  a 
motto  the  words,  "  Expende  Hannibalem.'"  It  strikes  at  the 
outset  the  key-note  of  Germaine's  attempt  to  get  him  out  of 
the  way.  "  Men  of  honour,"  it  says,  "  were  at  a  loss  to  com- 
prehend upon  what  principle  you  could  justify  your  absence 
from  your  captive  army,  whose  calamities  they  considered  it 
your  duty  to  share."  His  bravery  and  zeal  are  extolled,  and 
the  cause  of  difference  between  him  and  Germaine  pointed 
out,  and  his  course  in  defending  his  conduct  and  refusing  to 
obey  the  mandate  of  the  king  to  return  to  and  give  himself 
up  to  the  Americans,  severely  criticised.  Vide  pp.  i,  5-7. 
Another  is  entitled  "  An  Essay  on  Moderti  Martyrs,''  and  is 
conceived  in  a  harsher  spirit  of  censure.     The  writer  most 


70     The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

men  was  In  his  favor,  and  the  incapacity  of  Ger- 
maine  became  so  conspicuous,  that  he  was  obliged, 
upon  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis,  to  retire  from 
office,  though  his  influence  with  the  king  was  so 
great  that  he  effected  his  retirement  "  under  the  cover 
of  a  peerage."^'  Burgoyne  was  in  some  measure 
compensated  for  his  almost  unexampled  trials,  but 
as  a  popular  idol  was  never  restored  to  his  niche. 
What  was  often  asserted  and  quite  widely  believed 
at  the  time,  that  Burgoyne's  army  was  sacrificed  to 
a  blunder  of  Germaine,  is  now  known  from  docu- 
ments left  by  a  contemporary.  Germaine,  it  would 
appear,  was  a  peculiar  man,  and  one  of  his  peculiar- 
ities was  an  over-nicety  with  regard  to  the  clerical 
work  of  his  office.  He  had  arranged  to  take  a  va- 
cation in  the  country,  and  on  the  morning  of  his  de- 
parture, called  at  his  office  to  examine  the  orders  to 
Burgoyne  and  Howe  which  were  to  be  dispatched 
upon  that  day  to  America.  Upon  examining  Howe's 
orders,  he  was  displeased  because  they  were  not 
"  fair  copied,"  and  angrily  ordered  them  to  be  re- 
copied.  He  then  went  inco  the  country  and  forgot 
all   about   the   matter.     The   result   was,  that    Bur- 


sarcastically  criticises  Burgoyne's  unfortunate  use  of  the  word 
^^  dictated,''  as  applied  to  the  terms  of  surrender,  which  he 
claimed  were  of  his  own  dictation,  and  remarks  with  much 
force  :  "  It  is  not  probable,  therefore,  that  he  (Gates)  would 
have  opposed  your  wishes,  had  you  (instead  of  leaving  it  to 
his  choice)  assigned  Quebec  as  the  place  of  embarkation, 
by  which  means  you  might  immediately  have  conducted  the 
whole  army  out  of  the  provinces  in  rebellion."      Vide  p.  45. 

^^Vide  Life  of  William,  Earl  of  Shelburne,  vol.  I,  p.  359. 


g»gg| 


msm 


BB 


The  Campaigns  of  Carleton  andBurgoyne.       71 

goyne's  orders  were  dispatched  to  him,  but  Howe's 
were  pigeon-holed,  hence  the  ruin  of  the  elaborate 
plan  to  subjugate  the  colonies.^''  It  cannot  be  de- 
nied however,  that  Howe  understood  the  plan  of 
the  campaign.  He  says  in  his  narrative,  "  On  the 
5th  of  June  I  received  a  copy  of  the  secretary  of 
State's  letter  to  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  dated  the  26th  of 
March,  1777,  wherein  he  communicates  to  him  the 
plan  of  the  northern  expedition,  and  adds  *  that  he 
will  write  to  Sir  William  Howe  by  the  first  packet.'  " 
It  can  only  be  plead  in  his  defense  that  he  had  no 
"positive,  peremptory  and  indispensable  orders"  to 
co-operate  with  Burgoyne.  This  plea  he  makes 
for  himself,  in  the  letter  under  consideration,  in 
these  words  :  "  I  must  observe,  that  this  copy  of  a 
letter  to  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  though  transmitted  to  me, 
was  not  accompanied  with  any  instructions  whatso- 
ever ;  and  that  the  letter  intended  to  have  been 
written  to  me  by  the  first  packet,  and  which  was  prob- 
ably to  have  contained  some  instructions,  was  never 
sent. "^3  That  the  plan  of  the  campaign  was  generally 
understood  we  well  know,  and  moreover  that  Howe's 
failure  to  co-operate  with  Burgoyne  was  a  puzzle  to 
Washington.  On  the  4th  of  July  he  wrote  General 
Heath:  "  General  Howe  evacuated  Amboy  on  Sunday 
last.  From  present  appearance,  Hudson's  river  seems 
to  be  the  object  of  his  attention  ;"  and  on  the  19th  : 

^Wide  ibid.,  p.  358  et  seq. 

^Vide  Narrative  of  Lieutenant- General  Sir  William  Howe, 
London,  1780. 


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72     The  Campaigns  of  Carle  ton  and  Burgoyne. 

"General  Howe  still  lays  entirely  quiet  on  board 
the  fleet  at  Staten  Island.  Very  few  troops  remain 
on  shore,  and  the  destination  [is]  a  profound  secret. 
Whatever  were  his  intentions  before  this  unlucky 
blow  to  the  northward," —  referring  to  the  fall  of  Ticon- 
deroga, — "  he  certainly  ought  now,  in  good  policy,  to 
endeavor  to  co-operate  with  General  Burgoyne.  I 
am  so  fully  of  opinion  that  this  will  be  his  plan,  that 
I  have  advanced  the  army  thus  far  to  support  our 
party  at  Peekskill,  should  the  enemy  move  up  the 
river. "^"^  This  leads  us  to  inquire  into  the  motives 
which  influenced  Howe;  at  this  juncture,  and  a  careful 
study  of  the  man  and  his  environments  may  enable 
us  to  reach  an  approximate  comprehension  of  them. 
Howe,  who  through  an  illegitimate  source  had  de- 
scended from  royalty,  was  a  man  enervated  by  patron- 
age and  pampered  with  flattery ;  such  a  man  as  would, 
upon  sufficient  occasion,  almost  unconsciously  permit 
his  amour  propre  to  overrule  his  amor  patrice. 
Burgoyne,  a  man  of  singularly  popular  qualities  and 
rapidly  rising  in  public  esteem,  had  been  cast  for  the 
principal  part  in  the  drama  about  to  be  enacted, —  was 
to  play  the  heroic  roll,  so  to  speak, —  and  influenced  by 
that  common  sentiment  of  dislike  to  a  subordinate 
part, —  a  sentiment  especially  active  with  men  engaged 
in  public  affairs —  Howe  was  disposed  quite  naturally 
to  view  the  scheme  of  the  ministry  with  languid 
indifference.     Although  he  knew  well  what  the  plan 

"''^Vide  Washington's  Letters  to  Heath,  Part  I,  pp.  64,  66  et 
seq- 


r-mt 


The  Campaigns  of  Carle  ton  and  Burgoyne.     73 

of  the  ministry  was,  the  blunder  of  Germaine  in  not 
giving  him  peremptory  orders  to  enact  the  part 
assigned  him  was  a  sufficient  pretext  for  him  to 
select  a  role  more  congenial  to  his  tastes,  one  indeed 
in  which  he  would  enact  the  part  of  hero  ;  hence  his 
brilliant,  but  impracticable  scheme  of  a  southern 
campaign,  the  fruit  of  a  confidence  rooted  in  the  rank 
soil  of  a  hitherto  successful  experience.  This  scheme 
once  conceived,  would  continue  to  grow  more  and 
more  attractive  in  his  imagination,  and  to  delude  him 
with  visions  of  a  fame  to  which  his  ambition  yearningly 
reached  ;  nor  were  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  success 
seemingly  great.  In  common  with  his  fellow  officers 
at  this  time,  he  still  under-estimated  his  opponents 
and  failed  to  comprehend  the  character  of  the  war  in 
which  the  British  government  was  engaged  ;  hence 
it  is  not  strange  that  he  should  formulate  the  scheme 
of  a  southern  campaign,  nor  that  he  should  pursue  it 
with  confidence.  The  climax  so  disastrous  to  British 
hopes,  and  which  an  eminent  writer,  classifying  it  with 
the  decisive  battles  of  the  world,^^  has  declared  to 
have  been  "  more  fruitful  of  results  than  those  con- 
flicts in  which  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  have 
been  engaged,  and  tens  of  thousands  have  fallen," 

^Vide  History  of  England,  by  Lord  Mahon,  vol.  VI,  p. 
285.  Another  writer  has  said  :  "  This  war,  which  rent  away 
the  North  American  colonies  of  England,  is  of  all  subjects 
in  history  the  most  painful  for  an  Englishman  to  dwell  on. 
It  was  conceived  and  carried  on  by  the  British  ministry  in 
iniquity  and  folly,  and  it  was  concluded  in  disaster  and  shame. 
But  the  contemplation  of  it  cannot  be  evaded  by  the  his- 

10 


•,:'f . 


vsssm 


74     TAe  Campaigns  of  Carleton  and  Burgoyne. 

we  have  witnessed.  That  Burgoyne  was  unfairly 
treated  by  his  own  government  cannot  now  be  gain- 
said, nor  that  hitherto  our  own  people  have  too 
lightly  regarded  his  conduct  of  the  campaign  from 
Canada.  In  estimating  his  character  we  meet  with 
difficulties,  possessing  as  it  does  qualities  of  almost 
kaleidoscopic  variety. 

We  cannot  reconcile  the  warm  terms  of  friendship 
which  he  used  in  addressing  Lee,  an  old  companion 
in  arms  then  in  the  American  service,  with  the 
unfriendly  epithets  of  "  late  half-pay  major,  and 
incendiary  in  the  king's  service  —  major-general  and 
demagogue  in  the  rebel  army,"  which  he  applied  to 
that  friend  shortly  after  in  correspondence  with  Lord 
North,  when  he  was  anxious  to  excuse  himself  for 
holding  communication  with  a  rebel ;  ^  nor  his  state- 
ments regarding  his  regimental  colors,  with  what  we 
now  know  to  be  facts ;  nor  yet  again  can  we  under- 
stand, how,  after  the  direful  disasters  which  had 
befallen  his  faithful   army,   at  the  moment  too  in 

torian,  however  much  it  may  be  abhorred.  Nor  can  any 
military  event  be  said  to  have  exercised  more  important  in- 
fluence on  the  future  fortunes  of  mankind,  than  the  com- 
plete defeat  of  Burgoyne's  expedition  in  1777,  a  defeat  which 
rescued  the  revolted  colonies  from  certain  subjection,  and 
which,  by  inducing  the  courts  of  France  and  Spain  to  attack 
England  in  their  behalf,  insured  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  and  the  formation  of  that  trans-Atlantic 
power  which  not  only  America  but  both  Europe  and  Asia 
now  see  and  feel."  Vide  Fifteen  Decisive  Battles  of  the 
World,  etc.,  by  Sir  Edward  Creasy,  London,  1873,  p.  292. 

^Vide  Political  and  Military  Episodes,  etc.,  London,  1876, 
pp.  169-175. 


The  Campaigns  of  Carle  ton  and  Burgoyne.     75 

which  he  was  to  deliver  his  worn-out  and  almost 
heart-broken  soldiers  into  captivity,  he  could  bedeck 
himself  in  the  gorgeous  habiliments  of  the  court. 
These  are  beyond  our  comprehension.  At  the  same 
time,  we  must  admit  that  he  was  a  man  of  noble 
parts,  a  scholar,  a  statesman  of  no  mean  ability  and 
a  thoroughly  brave  and  capable  officer.  The  army 
which  he  led  has  probably  never  been  excelled  in 
soldierly  qualities.  No  one  capable  of  appreciating 
character  can  make  the  individual  accquaintance  of 
the  men,  both  British  and  German  who  comprised  it, 
and  whose  biographies  have  come  down  to  us,  with- 
out feeling  an  admiration  for  and  a  friendly  interest 
in  them.  "  Opinionum  commenta  delet  dies  natum 
judicia  conjirmat." 


J. 


?! 


fl 


REGIMENTAL  COLOURS, 

53d  Regiment. 


WimUnt  iifilr^'B  Soak. 


SOME  ACCOUNT 


or 


THE  AMERICAN  WAR 


BETWEEN 


GREAT  BRITAIN 


AND   HER 


COLONIES. 


WILLIAM  DIGBY,  Lieutenant  530  Regiment. 


1776, 


ii 


PRBFACK. 


My  chief  design  in  committing  the  following 
passages  to  paper  was  with  a  view  of  hereafter 
bringing  to  my  memory,  (when  a  dull  hour  presented 
itself),  some  incidents  which  have  happened  in  the 
course  of  the  Campaigns  1776  and  1777.  I  have 
wished  to  confine  such,  as  much  as  possible,  to  the 
partial  eye  of  a  particular  friend,  one  who  will 
make  many  allowances  for  their  numerous  defects, 
from  the  degree  of  friendship  subsisting  between 
The   only  merit,   (if    it   can   deserve  such   an 


us. 


appellation),  I  can  claim,  is  a  strict  adherence  to 
truth  inserted  without  exaggeration,  and  facts  set 
down  plainly  as  they  happened,  not  but  in  some 
places  oversights  may  have  been  committed  from 
the  inattention  to  which  at  times  all  mankind  are 
liable.  I  cannot  pass  over  mentioning  that  during 
a  campaign,  the  many  requisites  for  bringing  such 
an  undertaking  to  the  smallest  degree  of  perfection 
are  impossible  to  be  attained,  &  even  time,  one 
of  the  first  and  most  necessary  ingredients,  is  often 
stinted  from  the  frequent  calls  of  duty.  It  would 
exceed  the  bounds  I  at  first  prescribed,  to  enter 
into  the  grand  causes  which  actuate  a  General  in 


.(■•.A'j.aiuUiki^V^ 


80 


Preface. 


the  manoeuvres  and  movements  of  an  army ;  the 
impossibility  of  such  an  attempt  must  appear  evi- 
dent to  every  person  from  the  variety  of  intelli- 
gence he  must  often  receive  through  private  chan- 
nels, together  with  his  orders  for  acting,  neither  of 
which  could  be  communicated  to  every  individual ; 
from  the  above  reasons  I  have  confined  myself  to 
simple  occurrences,  such  as  were  publicly  known  to 
the  army  in  general,  as  it  would  be  the  greatest  pre- 
sumption in  me  to  insinuate  a  knowledge  of  more. 
As  digressions  are  often  tedious  and  tiresome,  I 
have  put  in  as  few  sentiments  of  my  ov/n  as 
possible,  being  well  assured  that  in  such  passages 
where  they  may  be  wanting,  the  reader  can  supply 
their  place  more  advantageously  than  I  could  pre- 
tenu  to  do.  To  conclude,  I  have  not  attempted  to 
apologize  or  even  to  enumerate  the  many  faults 
contained  in  the  following  pages.  In  place  of  the 
former,  I  have  depended  entirely  on  the  friendship 
already  wished  for,  &  mentioning  the  latter  were 
to  doubt  the  discernment  of  the  reader,  who,  if  he 
takes  the  trouble  of  venturing  on  them,  will  soon, 
I  fear,  discover  enough  to  prevent  his  going  through. 
If  on  the  contrary,  his  good  nature  induces  him  to 
lean  lightly  on  what  cannot  merit  his  approbation, 
and  with  a  friendly  eye  pass  over  their  numerous 
unconnected  passages  put  down  without  regularity 
or  order,  he  will  cause  me  to  feel  for  their  want  of 
merit  only,  as  they  are  deficient  in  affording  him 
amusement  or  entertainment  in  return. 


CAMPAIGN  OF   1776. 

BY  AN  OFFICER  IN  THE  NORTHERN  ARMY, 


UNDER   THE   COMMAND   OF   HIS   EXCELLENCY 


GENERAL  GUY  CARLETON. 


it 


i! 


^mmmmmmmm 


i 


FIRST  CAMPAIGN, 

1776. 


1776  April 

AILED  from  the  Cove  of  Cork  in  the 
Woodcock  Transport  of  250  tons  burthen, 
accompanied  by  43  sail  of  ship's  full  of 
troops  and  convoyed  by  the  Caresford  and  Pearl 
ships  of  war,  supposed  to  be  destined  for  Quebec 
in  Canada, —  the  troops  commanded  by  Lieu\  Col° 
Frazier  ^^  24^*^  Regiment  until  their  arrival  in  America, 

^^  **  Simeon  Fraser,"  says  Fonblanque,  "  was  born  in  1729, 
had  entered  the  army  at  an  early  age,  and  attained  the 
command  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Regiment  of  Foot  before 
the  war  with  America  broke  out,"  and  Colonel  Rogers  traces 
through  many  intricacies  his  advancement  in  the  army  as 
follows  :  Lieutenant  Seventy-eighth  Foot,  January  5,  1757  ; 
captain  lieutenant,  September  27,  1758 ;  captain,  April 
22,  1759;  major  in  the  army,  March  15,  1761  ;  major  in 
the  Twenty-fourth  Foot,  February  8,  1762  ;  lieutenant- 
colonel,  July  14,  1768 ;  brigadier-general,  June  10,  1776. 
He  received  the  rank  of  colonel  in  the  army  July  22,  1777. 
He  had  fought  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  New  England 
troops  at  Louisbourg  and  Quebec.  He  was  an  officer 
of  great  ability  and  beloved  by  the  entire  army.  Vide 
Political  and  Military  Episodes,  241  ;  Hadden's  Journal 
and  Orderly  Books,  p.  455. 


mmmm 


84 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


when  Gen'.  Carlton, ^^  Governor  of  Canada,  was  to 
take   the   command,   and,   under   him,    Lieu\    Gen^ 

^  Guy  Carleton  was  of  Irish  birth,  being  born  at  Strabane, 
Ireland,  September  3,  1724.  His  soldierly  qualities  brought 
him  promotion,  and  in  1757  we  find  him  holding  the  rank 
of  chief  lieutenant  in  the  First  Foot.  He  took  part  in  1758 
in  the  successful  siege  against  Louisbourg,  and  for  his  signal 
services  in  that  campaign  was  made  lieutenant-colonel  of 
the  Seventy-second  Foot.  His  ability  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  General  Wolfe,  who  selected  him  as  his  quarter- 
master general,  and  in  the  great  battle  on  the  heights  of 
Abraham  he  was  severely  wounded  by  a  musket  ball  in  the 
head.  On  September  24,  1766,  he  was  made  lieutenant- 
governor,  and  October  26,  1768,  governor  of  Quebec.  He 
had  known  Montgomery  in  the  French  war,  and  when  the 
latter  invaded  Canada,  realized  that  he  had  no  ordinary  foe 
to  combat.  With  all  the  material  at  his  command,  he  en- 
deavored to  hold  back  the  enthusiastic  invaders,  but  with- 
out success,  and  barely  escaped  capture  at  Trois  Rivieres, 
which  he  left  in  disguise  just  as  the  victorious  Montgomery 
entered  the  town.  Carleton  did  not  remain  in  America 
through  the  war,  but  returned  to  England,  July  29,  1778, 
where  he  was  warmly  received.  In  the  spring  of  1782  he 
superseded  Sir  Henry  Clinton  as  commander-in-chief  of  the 
forces  in  America,  and  won  much  popularity  by  his  liberal 
and  just  administration  of  the  affairs  of  his  department.  A 
recent  historian  thus  speaks  of  him  :  "  By  his  tenderness 
and  humanity,  he  gained  the  affection  of  those  Americans 
who  fell  into  his  hands.  His  conduct  in  this  respect  affords 
a  striking  and  happy  contrast  to  that  of  nearly  all  the  Brit- 
ish officers  who  served  in  this  country  during  the  Revolu- 
tion." While  we  are  glad  to  admit  that  he  showed  great 
kindness  to  the  prisoners  who  fell  into  his  hands,  we  must 
remember  The  Cedars  and  his  reply  to  Washington's  request 
for  an  exchange  of  prisoners,  accompanied  by  a  copy  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  While  he  was  not  responsi- 
ble for  the  barbarity  committed  upon  our  soldiers  at  The 
Cedars,  this  reply  suggests  the  spirit  which  inspired  his 
subordinate  in  that  affair.  In  the  reply  alluded  to  occur  the 
following  indecent  words : 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


85 


Burgoyne.     We  soon  lost  sight  of    Ireland,  having 
a   fair   wind.     We    had    on    board    two    companies 


"  His  Excellency  General  Carlton  orders  that 
The  commanding  Officers  of  Corps  will  take  especial  care 
that  every  one  under  their  command  be  informed,  that  Letters, 
or  messages  from  Rebels,  Traitors  in  Arms  against  the  King, 
Rioters,  disturbers  of  the  public  Peace,  Plunderers,  Robbers, 
Assassins,  or  Murderers,  are  on  no  occasion  to  be  admitted : 
That  shou'd  emmissaries  from  such  lawless  Men  again  presume 
to  approach  the  Army,  whether  under  the  name  of  Flag  of 
Truce  Men  or  Ambassadors  except  when  they  come  to  im- 
plore the  King's  mercy,  their  persons  shall  be  immediately 
seized  and  committed  to  close  confinement  to  be  proceeded 
against  as  the  Law  directs :  Their  Papers  &  Letters,  for 
whomsoever  directed  (even  this  Com'r  in  Chief)  are  to  be 
deliver'd  to  the  Provost  Martial,  that  unread  and  unopen'd 
they  maybe  burned  by  the  hands  of  the  common  Hangman." 

These  are  not  the  words  of  a  philanthropist  or  even 
of  a  calm  and  generous  mind,  but  rather  those  of  a 
tyrant,  who,  if  he  possessed  the  power,  would  use  it  most 
cruelly.  We  know  what  Garneau  says  of  his  treatment 
of  the  Canadians  after  his  return  from  the  campaign  of 
''j^i,  namely,  that  he  **  sent  detachments  to  pick  up  strag- 
gling enemies,  arrest  colonists  who  had  joined  the  Ameri- 
cans and  fire  their  houses ;  for  the  British,  who  spared 
from  destruction  the  property  of  insurgents  in  the  Anglo- 
American  colonies,  followed  their  ancient  practice  with 
respect  to  Canada  and  its  foreign-derived  race.  As  in  1759, 
they  now  inarched  torch  in  hand''  We  know  how  Washing- 
ton received  this  intemperate  reply.  He  simply  said,  with 
calmness  and  dignity,  to  Hancock :  "  I  shall  not  trouble 
Congress  with  my  strictures  upon  this  performance  so 
highly  unbecoming  the  character  of  a  soldier  and  a  gentle- 
man." This  was  all  the  notice  he  took  of  the  matter.  In 
a  note  referring  to  this  extraordinary  reply  of  General 
Carleton,  Sparks  seems  almost  inclined  to  doubt  its  genuine- 
ness, but  the  recent  publication  of  Hadden's  Journal  sets 
the  matter  at  rest,  as  the  document  is  there  published  in 


f 


86 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


of   the    53''    Regiment,   Major,   Earl   of    Balcarres^^ 
and   the   Grenadiers   to   whom    I    had   the   honour 


full.  Carleton  was,  at  the  time  of  penning  it,  laboring  under 
great  excitement  caused  by  the  shooting  of  General  Gordon 
by  the  scout,  Whitcomb,  a  most  cruel  act,  but  no  more 
cruel  than  others  which  were  perpetrated  by  individuals  on 
both  sides,  for  which  neither  government  was  responsible. 
Carleton  seems  to  have  felt  ashamed  of  this  performance 
himself,  for,  perhaps  feeling  its  effect  upon  his  troops  in 
exciting  them  to  unnecessary  cruelty,  he  issued  soon  after 
an  order  admonishing  them  not  to  return  evil  for  evil,  nor 
to  forget  that  "the  Englishman,  always  brave,  is  accus- 
tomed to  act  magnanimously  and  philanthropically,"  and 
that  it  behooved  "  the  troops  of  the  king  to  spare  the  blood 
of  his  subjects."  On  account  of  his  services  in  America,  he 
was  created  Baron  of  Dorchester,  August  21,  1786.  He 
had  the  same  year  already  been  appointed  governor  of  the 
British  possessions  in  North  America,  which  office  he  held 
for  a  period  of  ten  years.  He  died  in  his  owr  home  in 
Berkshire,  November  10,  1808.  Vide  Collin's  Peerage,  vol. 
8,  pp.  112-117;  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco;  Journal  of  the 
Principal  Occurrences  During  the  Siege  of  Quebec  (W.  T. 
Shortt),  p.  42 ;  Garneau's  History  of  Canada,  Montreal, 
1862,  vol.  2,  pp.  135,  151  ;  Burke's  Peerage  and  Baronet- 
age, in  loco;  History  of  Connecticut  (Hollister),  vol.  2, 
p.  294,  et  seq. ;  Annual  Register  for  1808,  p.  162;  Life  of 
Washington  (Sparks),  vol.  3,  p.  268  ;  Ibid.,  vol.  4,  pp.  55-57; 
Hadden's  Journal  and  Orderly  Books,  pp.  7-10. 

®^  Alexander  Lindsay,  sixth  Earl  of  Balcarres,  was  of  Scotch 
descent,  and  at  this  time  but  twenty  four  years  of  age,  hav- 
ing been  born  January  18,  1752.  He  was  commissioned  an 
ensign  in  the  Fifty-fifth  Foot,  July  15,  1767,  and  after  two 
years'  experience  at  Gibralter,  and  as  long  a  period  in  study 
at  Gottingen,  he  returned  to  England  and  was  commissioned 
a  captain  in  the  Forty  second  Foot,  January  28,  1771.  He 
became  by  purchase  major  of  the  Fifty-third  Foot,  Decem- 
ber 9,  1775,  and  upon  his  arrival  in  Canada,  was  appointed 
by  Carleton  to  the  command  of  the  light  infantry.  At  the 
battle  of  Hubbardton  he  was  wounded,  and  had  many  nar- 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


87 


to  belong.  The  wind  continued  fair  for  us  till  the 
\<^^,  when  we  were  becalmed.  About  noon,  we 
perceived  from  the  main  top  mast  head,  a  fleet  to 

row  escapes  ;  after  the  death  of  Fraser  he  succeeded  that 
officer  in  command,  and  was  commissioned  lieutenant-colonel 
of  the  Twenty- fourth  Foot,  October  8,  1777. 

Finding  after  the  capture  of  Burgoyne's  army,  that  a 
general  exchange  of  prisoners  was  not  to  take  place,  he 
refused  to  accept  his  liberty,  and  returning  to  Cambridge, 
shared  the  captivity  of  his  men  until  the  latter  part  of  1778, 
when  he  returned  home  on  parole.  An  interesting  anecdote 
is  related  of  a  meeting  which  he  had  with  Arnold  while  the 
latter  was  having  an  audience  with  the  king.  As  Balcarres 
entered  the  royal  presence,  the  king  introduced  Arnold  to 
him,  but  with  an  action  expressive  of  disgust,  Balcarres 
drew  back,  exclaiming,  *'  ivhat,  sire,  the  traitor  Arnold?  "  A 
challenge  from  Arnold  was  the  result.  At  the  signal  to  fire 
Arnold  discharged  his  pistol  without  effect,  and  Balcarres 
cooly  turning  upon  his  heel  was  walking  away,  when  Arnold 
cried  out,  "■  ivhy  dorit  you  fire,  my  lord?''  To  this,  Balcarres 
looking  over  his  shoulder,  replied,  "  sir^  I  leave  you  to  the 
executioner y  He  was  appointed  lieutenant  colonel  in  com- 
mand of  the  second  division  of  the  Seventy-first  Highland- 
ers, February  13,  1782,  and  colonel  in  the  army  November 
20th,  of  the  same  year.  He  was  in  Parliament  as  a  peer  of 
Scotland  in  1784  and  for  several  successive  years,  and 
became  colonel  of  the  Sixty-third  Foot,  August  27,  1789. 
He  was  made  a  major-general  October  12,  1793,  and  the 
next  year  assumed  military  and  civil  command  at  Jamaica. 
After  seven  years  of  continued  and  most  successful  warfare, 
he  resigned  his  position  and  returned  to  England.  He  had 
been  commissioned  a  lieutenant-general  January  i,  1798, 
and  September  25,  1803,  he  was  made  a  general  in  the  army. 
After  his  return  to  England  he  devoted  himself  to  the  care 
of  his  estates  until  his  death,  which  occurred  at  Haight 
Hall,  in  Lancashire,  March  27,  1825.  Vide  British  Army 
Lists,  in  loco  ;  Burke's  Peerage  and  Baronetage,  in  loco  ;  Fos- 
ter's Peerage  and  Orders  of  Knighthood,  in  loco ;  Three 
Years  in  North  America  (Stuart),  vol.  i,  p.  462. 


)i 


r^immmm 


UBS 


88 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


windward  bearing  down  to  us  with  all  the  sail  they 
could  set.  On  their  approaching  nearer^  we  found 
they  were  the  fleet  from  Plymouth/"  mostly  Ger- 
mans. General  Burgoyne  was  on  board  one  of 
their  frigates,  who,  after  giving  some  orders,  sepa- 
rated from  us  about  the  21^',  as  winds  were  turned 
rather  foul  for  us  at  that  time. 

May  4^^  Discovered  at  a  distance  numerous  islands 
of  ice,  some  three  times  higher  than  our  main  top 
mast  head  and  formed  in  the  most  romantic  shapes, 
appearing  like  large  castles,  when  the  sun  shone  on 
them,  all  on  fire.  The  sailors  from  this  imagined 
we  could  not  be  a  great  distance  from  Newfound- 
land, it  being  about  the  season  for  the  quantities 
of  ice  that  surround  that  part  during  the  winter  to 
break  up,  they  obliged  us  to  steer  wi<"h  great 
caution,  as  were  a  vessel  to  strike  on  sucii  a  solid 
body,  she  must  inevitably  be  dashed  to  pieces. 

5^^  Prepared  lines  to  fish  on  the  banks  but  found 
no  success,  though  many  of  our  fleet  killed  some. 
The  banks  are  properly  a  mountain  hid  under  water, 
with  various  depths  of  water  from  25  to  60  fathom. 
During  our  stay  upon  this  kingdom  of  cod  fish,  we 
found  it  very  unpleasant,  as  the  sun  scarce  ever  shews 
himself,  and  the  greatest  part  of  the  time  thick  and 
cold  fogs  ;  but  there  are  none  of   these  fish  which 

^*'"  The  fleet  from  Plymouth  "  consisted  of  thirty  sail,  and 
had  on  board  General  Riedesel  and  his  German  troops. 
Riedesel,  in  a  letter  to  his  wife,  gives  an  entertaining 
account  of  his  life  on  board  ship,  for  which  reference  may  be 
had  to  "  Letters  and  Journals  of  Mrs.  Riedesel,"  p.  22. 


I 


V  . 


i. 


Lieutenant  Digby  s  Journal. 


89 


I 


require  warmer  seas.  There  are  also  on  the  banks 
of  Newfoundland  great  numbers  of  whales,  spouting 
fish,  porpoises,  sword  fish,  &^  The  sword  fish  is  as 
thick  as  a  cow,  seven  or  eight  feet  long,  gradually 
lessening  towards  the  tail ;  it  takes  its  name  from  its 
weapon,  a  kind  of  sword  three  feet  long  and  about 
four  inches  wide  :  It  is  fixed  above  its  nose  and  has 
six  rows  of  teeth  on  each  side,  an  inch  long,  at  an 
equal  distance  from  each  other  ;  this  fish  is  excellent 
eating.  The  whale  and  the  sword  fish  never  meet 
without  fighting ;  the  latter,  they  say,  is  always  the 
aggressor.  Sometimes  two  sword  fish  join  against  a 
whale,  and  then  it  is  not  an  equal  match.  The  whale 
has  neither  weapon  offensive  nor  defensive,  but  his 
tail  :  To  make  use  of  it  against  his  enemy,  he  plunges 
his  head  under  water,  and,  if  he  can  strike  his  enemy, 
he  kills  him  with  a  blow  of  his  tail ;  but  he  is  very 
dexterous  to  shun  it,  and  instantly  falls  upon  the 
whale  and  runs  his  weapon  in  his  back  ;  most  com- 
monly it  pierces  not  to  the  bottom  of  the  fat,  and  so 
does  no  great  injury.  When  the  whale  can  see  the 
sword  fish  dart  to  strike  him,  he  plunges,  but  the 
sword  fish  pursues  him  in  the  water  and  obliges  him 
to  appear  again  ;  then  the  fight  begins  again  and 
lasts  till  the  sword  fish  loses  sight  -of  the  whale, 
which  fights  always  retreating  and  swims  best  on  the 
surface  of  the  water.  It  is  said,  with  what  truth  I 
cannot  say,^'  that  the  cod  can  turn  itself  inside  out 

"Cf.  Malte  Brun,  vol.  5,  p.  19. 
12 


I 


90 


Lieutenant  Digbyi>  Journal. 


like  a  pocket,  and  that  the  fish  frees  itself  from  any 
thing  that  troubles  it  by  this  means.  I  wont  vouch 
for  the  truth  of  this.'' 

6'\  Fell  in  with  a  French  fishing  vessel.  We  had 
mostly  got  over  our  sea  sickness  ;  though  I  was  but 
little  troubled  in  that  way  after  the  second  or  third 
day.  Our  Cap"  Richardson  was  a  good  seaman  and 
an  agreeable  companion,  which  does  not  always  fol- 
low. The  ship  was  stout  but  often  missed  stays  in 
tacking,  not  answering  the  helm  well,  and,  of  course 
not  a  pleasant  vessel  to  sail  with  a  large  fleet. 

7'^  About  1 1  at  night  our  captain  seemed  very 
uneasy  at  not  hearing  a  signal  from  the  man  of  war  ; 
it  blew  fresh  against  us ;  we  were  going  on  the  wind 
and  the  night  dark  and  hazy,  which  is  generally  the 
case  on  the  banks.  Our  grog  being  out,  we  prepared 
for  rest,  when  he  came  down  and  told  us  if  the  signal 

^^This  is  a  prudent  disclaimer  of  our  author,  who  was  but 
repeating  the  popular  belief  with  regard  to  this  fish  (morhua 
vulgaris),  which  is  extremely  voracious,  devouring  indiscrim- 
inately, says  Herriot,  "  every  substance  which  it  is  capable 
of  gorging  ;  even  glass  and  iron  have  been  found  in  the 
stomach  of  this  fish,  which  by  inverting  itself  has  the  power 
of  becoming  disburdened  of  its  indigestible  contents."  Vide 
Travels  through  Canada,  p.  30.  It  is  certain  that  the  cod 
is  a  great  collector  of  deep-sea  objects,  and  naturalists  are 
indebted  to  it  for  specimens  of  rare  and  new  shells  other- 
wise unattainable.  The  Basques  were  fishing  as  early  as 
1504  along  the  Newfoundland  shores,  to  which  they  applied 
the  name  of  Baccalaos  or  Codlands,  and  although  for  nearly 
four  centuries  the  business  has  been  constantly  increasing, 
such  is  the  rapid  multiplication  of  the  cod  that  its  numbers 
have  not  decreased. 


¥• 


»• 


'^i 


Lieutenant  Dighy's  Jc  'rnal. 


91 


was  not  made  (which  was  firing  two  guns  from  the 
Caresford)  by  12  o'clock,  he  would  put  the  ship 
about,  as  by  his  reckoning,  we  must  be  very  near 
Cape  Race,  no  pleasing  circumstance  at  that  time 
of  night,  He  had  scarce  spoke  when  the  sailors 
on  deck  cried  out,  we  were  most  on  shore,  and  we 
could  easily  perceive  the  breakers  at  a  small  dis- 
tance, on  which  the  vessel  was  put  about  with  the 
greatest  dispatch,  and  all  our  guns  fired  as  signals 
for  the  rest  of  the  fleet  to  keep  off.  Some  we  saw 
much  nearer  land  and  feared  they  would  be  lost, 
in  short,  it  was  a  scene  of  the  greatest  confusion, 
every  ship  getting  from  shore  as  well  as  possible. 
Cape  Race  is  the  south  east  point  of  the  island  of 
Newfoundland  ;  it  lies  in  46  degrees  30  minutes  north 
latitude,  and  the  coast  runs  from  thence  100  leagues 
to  the  west  and  terminates  at  Cape  Ray,  about  47 
degrees,  and  nearly  half  way  is  the  great  bay  of 
Placentia,  one  of  the  finest  ports  in  America. 

8^^  At  day  break  discovered  Cape  Ray,  and  soon 
after  passed  close  to  the  little  island  of  St.  Paul ; 
tried  to  count  our  fleet  and  found  two  transports, 
the  Henry  and  Sisters,  missing  with  3  companies  of 
our  regiment,  and  the  Lithy  with  one  company  of  the 
31^^  regiment.  A  vessel,  whom  we  spoke  with,  in- 
formed us  she  saw  them  among  the  rocks  and  feared 
they  were  lost,  the  night  being  dark  and  the  shore 
not  the  best. —  We  still  conti.^ued  our  course  into  the 
gulph  of  St.  Lawrence,  which  is  80  leagues  long,  and 
went  through  it  in  about  30  hours  with  a  good  wind. 


i*a  I 


92 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


Near  half  way  we  fell  in  with  the  Bird  islands." 
They  are  very  near  each  other  and  covered  with 
birds  and  nests.  They  have  been  often  visited, 
and  boats  have  been  entirely  loaded  with  eggs  of 
all  sorts.  Surely  it  is  wonderful  in  such  millions 
of  nests,  every  bird  should  find  its  own,  anc".  had 
we  fired  a  gun,  it  is  reported  the  air  would  be 
darkened  two  or  three  leagues  round.  Near  this 
we  fell  in  with  a  fishing  vessel ;  but  she  could 
give  us  no  intelligence,  whether  Quebec  was  in 
our  hands  or  our  enemies  —  the  latter  we  had  the 
greatest  reason  to  believe. 

9*^  We  were  almost  becalmed,  so  prepared 
for  fishing  and  had  very  good  success.  We  hoped 
soon  to  double  Cape  Rosiers,  which  is  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  river  St.  Lawrence.  Newfoundland 
that  we  had  so  lately  left  behind  us,  and  the  first 
land  we  meet  with  coming  to  Canada,  "  It  could 
never  be  known,"  a  French  writer  observes,  "for 
certainty  whether  it  had  any  native  inhabitants." 
Its  barrenness,  supposing  it  every  where  as  real 
as  it  is  thought  to  be,  is  not  a  sufficient  proof 
that   it  has  had  no   native  inhabitants;  for  fishing 

"  On  Deny's  map  of  1672,  these  islands  are  called  "  Les 
isles  aux  Oyseaux."  They  were  subsequently  called  the 
Magdalen  islands,  and  reference  is  here  made  to  the  north- 
ernmost of  the  group.  They  were  formerly  owned  by  Sir 
Isaac  Coffin,  a  distinguished  naval  officer,  and  a  native  of 
Nantucket  on  the  coast  of  Massachusetts,  where  many  of 
the  family  name  still  reside.  One  of  these  islands  is  called 
Coffin's  island  from  its  former  proprietor.  Vide  Canada, 
Nova  Scotia,  etc.,  Buckingham,  London,  1843,  p.  314. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Jotirnal. 


93 


and  hunting  are  sufficient  to  maintain  savages. 
This  is  certain,  that  here  was  never  seen  any  but 
Eskimaux  who  are  not  natives  of  this  country. 
Their  real  home  is  Labrador  or  New  Britain.  It 
is  there  at  least  they  pass  the  greatest  part  of 
the  year ;  for  it  would  be  profaning  the  name  of 
the  native  country  to  apply  it  to  wandering  bar- 
barians who,  having  no  affection  for  any  country, 
travel  over  a  vast  extent  of  land.  In  fact,  besides 
the  coasts  of  Newfoundland  which  the  Esquimaux 
range  over  in  the  summer,  in  all  the  vast  continent 
which  is  between  the  river  St  Lawrence  and  Canada 
and  the  North  Sea,  there  has  never  been  seen  any 
other  people  than  the  Eskimaux.  They  have  been 
met  with  also  a  good  way  up  the  river  Bourbon, 
which  runs  into  Hudson's  Bay,  coming  from  the 
West.  The  original  name  of  these  people  is  not 
certain,  however  it  is  very  probable  that  it  comes 
from  the  Abenaqui  word,  Esquimantsic,  which  signi- 
fies an  eater  of  raw  flesh.'*  The  Eskimaux  are,  in 
fact,  the  only  savages  known  that  eat  raw  flesh, 
though  they  have  also  the  custom  of  dressing  it  or 
drying  it  in  the  sun.  It  is  also  certain,  that  of  all 
the  people  known  in  America,  there  are  none  who 
come  nearer  than  these  to  complete  the  first  idea 
which  Europeans  had  of  savages.     They  are  almost 

^*This  shows  our  author  to  have  been  a  careful  student. 
These  Indians  called  themselves  Innuits,  but  the  name 
Esquimaux,  the  proper  signification  of  which  is  here  given, 
was  applied  to  them  by  the  Algonquins,  of  which  family  the 
Abenaquis  were  the  eastern  representatives. 


94 


Lieutenant  Digby  s  Journal. 


the  only  people  where  the  men  have  any  beard,  and 
they  have  it  so  thick  up  to  their  eyes  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  distinguish  any  features  of  the  face  ;  they 
have  besides  something  hideous  in  their  look ;  little 
eyes  looking  wild,  large  teeth  and  very  foul.  Their 
hair  is  commonly  black,  but  sometimes  light,  much 
in  disorder,  and  their  whole  outward  appearance  very 
rough.  Their  manners  and  their  character  do  not 
disagree  with  their  ill  look.  They  are  fierce,  surly, 
mistrustful,  uneasy,  always  inclined  to  do  an  injury 
to  strangers,  who  ought  therefore,  to  be  upon  their 
guard  against  them.  As  to  their  wit  and  under- 
standing, we  have  had  so  little  commerce  with  this 
people  that  we  can  say  nothing  concerning  them, 
but  they  are,  however,  cunning  enough  to  do  mis- 
chief. They  have  often  been  seen  to  go  in  the  night 
to  cut  the  cables  of  ships  that  were  at  anchor  that 
they  might  be  wrecked  upon  the  coast,  and  they 
make  no  scruple  of  attacking  them  openly  in  the 
day  when  they  know  they  are  weakly  mann'd.  It 
was  never  possible  to  render  them  more  tractable, 
and  we  cannot  yet  treat  with  them,  but  at  the  end  of 
a  long  pole.  They  not  only  refuse  to  approach  the 
Europeans,  but  they  will  eat  nothing  that  comes 
from  them.  They  are  tall  and  pretty  well  shaped  ; 
their  skin  is  as  white  as  snow,  which  proceeds,  with- 
out doubt,  from  their  never  going  naked  in  the  hot- 
test weather ;  their  hair,  their  beards,  the  whireness 
of  their  skin,  the  little  resemblance  and  corr»merce 
they  have  with  their  nearest   neighbours,  It.ive  no 


Lieutenant  Dighys  Journal. 


95 


room  to  doubt  that  they  have  a  different  origin  from 
other  Americans,  but  the  opinion,  that  which  makes 
then  descended  from  the  Biscayners,"  seems  to  me 
to  have  a  little  foundation,  especially  if  it  is  true,  as 
I  have  been  assured,  that  their  language  is  entirely 
different.  For  the  rest,  their  alliance  would  do  no 
great  honour  to  any  nation,  for,  if  there  was  no  country 
on  the  face  of  the  earth  less  fit  to  be  inhabited  by 
men  than  Newfoundland  and  Labrador, ^^  there  is 
perhaps  no  people  which  deserve  more  to  be  con- 
fined here  than  the  Eskimaux.  For  my  part,  I 
am  persuaded  they  came  originally  from  Greenland, 
These  savages  are  covered  in  such  a  manner,  that 
you  can  hardly  see  any  part  of  their  face  [or]  the 
ends  of  their  fingers.  Upon  a  kind  of  shirt  made 
of  bladders  or  the  guts  of  fish  cut  in  slips  and  pretty 
well  sowed  together,  they  have  a  coat  made  of  bear 

"  Biscayners  or  natives  of  Biscay,  one  of  the  Basque  prov- 
inces of  Spain,  are  supposed  by  some  ethnologists  to  be  the 
aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Europe.  Traces  of  them  have 
been  found  in  England,  France,  Germany,  Denmark  and 
Sweden  as  well  as  in  Spain.  These  consist  of  implements 
of  peculiar  construction,  burial  places  and  kitchen  middens. 
Pickering  in  Races  of  Men,  p.  19,  agrees  with  our  journalist 
that  they  are  a  distinct  race  from  our  so-called  aboriginal 
inhabitants. 

^®  Caspar  Cortereal  visiting  this  coast  in  the  year  1 500, 
seized  fifty-seven  of  the  natives  of  the  country  and  carried 
them  home  for  slaves.  On  account  of  the  anticipated  traffic 
in  the  inhabitants  of  this  region,  the  name  of  Tierra  Labora- 
dor  or  the  Land  of  Laborers  was  bestowed  upon  it  according 
to  one  authority,  while  according  to  another,  it  was  to  dis- 
tinguish it  from  Greenland,  which  was  barren,  while  this 
would  yield  to  the  labor  of  man. 


'Hituj^iiijiil 


If  ,»^»»Vim<l^  -*n  - 


■<!»' ■><!■■»  f\ 


i 


96 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


or  deer  skins,  and  sometimes  of  birds  skins.  A  capu- 
chin of  the  same  stuff,  and  which  is  fastened  to  it 
covers  their  head,  on  the  top  of  which  there  comes 
out  a  tuft  of  hair  which  hangs ^over  their  forehead. 
The  shirt  comes  no  lower  than  their  waist ;  their  coat 
hangs  behind  down  to  their  thighs,  and  terminates 
before  in  a  point  something  below  the  waist ;  but 
the  women  wear  them  both  before  and  behind  to 
the  middle  of  the  leg,  and  bound  with  a  girdle,  from 
which  hang  little  bones.  The  men  have  breeches  of 
skins  with  the  hair  inwards,  and  which  are  often  cov- 
ered on  the  outside  with  the  skim  of  ermine  or  such 
like  They  wear  also  socks  with  the  hair  inwards, 
p.nd  over  this,  a  boot  furred  in  like  manner  on  the 
inside,  then  a  second  sock  and  second  boots,  and 
they  say,  that  these  coverings  for  the  feet  are  some- 
times three  or  four  fold,  which  does  not,  however, 
hinder  these  savages  from  being  vsry  nimble.  Their 
arrows,  which  are  the  only  arms  they  use,  are  armed 
with  points  made  of  the  teeth  of  the  sea  cow,  and 
they  sometimes  make  them  of  iron  when  they  can 
get  it.  It  appears  that  in  summer  they  keep  in  the 
open  air  night  and  day ;  but  in  the  winter,  they  lodge 
under  ground  in  a  sort  of  cave  where  they  all  lie 
one  upon  another:  but  to  return, —  the  island  of 
Anticosty  ^^  lies  at  the  entrance  of  the  river  St.  Law- 


""Anticosti.  This  wild  island  is  still  uninhabited  except 
by  a  few  fishermen  and  Indians,  who  make  it  their  home  for 
a  brief  season  in  the  summer.  It  has  no  harbor  in  which 
ships  can  take  refuge  anywhere  along  its  coast.     The  soil 


Lieutenant  Digby  s  Journal. 


97 


I 
'4 


rence.  It  is  about  40  leagues  long  and  but  very 
little  breadth,  poorly  wooded  and  a  wretched  barren 

spot. — 

2o^^  About  10  at  night  a  melancholy  accident  hap- 
pened to  us.  In  a  gale  of  wind,  the  Providence  trans- 
port ran  foul  of  our  vessel,  which,  as  there  was  a 
great  swell  of  sea  at  the  time,  was  attended  with 
some  danger.  One  of  our  grenadiers,  I  suppose 
thinking  our  ship  going  down,  run  from  his  berth 
below,  (where  some  said  he  had  been  asleep^,  and 
attempted  to  get  on  board  her,  but  in  the  trial  fell 
between  and  was  instantly  cruslied  to  pieces. —  Soon 
after  we  got  clear  of  her,  she  being  a  much  larger 
ship  than  ours,  though  neither  of  us  suffered  any 
thing  to  speak  of.  I  dont  think  any  thing  can  be 
more  alarming  than   2   large  ships  running  foul  of 

thus  far  has  not  tempted  man  to  cultivate  it.  As  its  situa- 
tion renders  it  dangerous  to  navigation,  two  relief  stations 
have  been  established  at  different  points  upon  it,  sup- 
plied with  provisions  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  may  be 
so  unfortunate  as  to  be  cast  upon  its  inhospitable  shores, 
and  guide  boards  are  placed  here  and  there  to  direct  them 
to  these  stations.  When  it  was  discovered  by  Jacques 
Cartier  on  the  day  of  the  Festival  of  the  Assumption,  that 
pious  navigator  named  it  Vyle  de  V Assumption^  but  quite 
properly,  its  old  Indian  name  as  given  by  Champlain,  or 
perhaps  a  corruption  of  it,  as  early  writers  differ  in  their 
orthography,  has  stuck  to  it.  Thus,  Thevet  calls  it  Naticou- 
sti,  and  De  Laet,  Natiscotes,  but  Champlain  may,  after  all, 
have  given  us  in  his  orthography  the  sound  of  the  Indian 
word  more  nearly  than  they  have  done.  Vide  Charlevoix, 
torn.  I,  p.  16 ;  Brief  Rtcit,  p.  9 ;  Hakluyt,  vol.  3,  p.  292  ; 
Champlain's  Voyages,  vol.  2,  p.  233;  Bonchetti,  vol.  i,  p. 
169. 

13 


I 


98 


Lieutenant  Digby  s  Journal. 


each  other  in  a  gale  of  wind,  though  I  should  imag- 
ine it  worse  in  a  dead  calm  and  great  swell  of  sea,  as 
then  there  must  be  a  difficulty  in  getting  clear  of 
each  other ;  and,  yet,  this  is  often  the  case  in  large 
fleets,  where  all  transports  are  kept  as  regular  as  pos- 
sible iiT  their  stations  by  the  men  of  war,  who  often 
fire  on  them  for  attempting  to  go  ahead,  and  make 
them  pay  much  for  the  first  shot,  doubling  it  till 
they  become  obedient. —  On  our  sailing  from  Cork 
harbour,  all  the  masters  of  transports  received  sealed 
instructions,  which  were  not  to  be  opened  until  by 
stress  of  weather,  or  any  other  cause,  their  ship  was 
separated  from  the  fleet  24  hours,  after  which,  these 
instructions  were  to  be  opened,  and  by  them  they 
were  ordered  to  make  the  best  of  their  way  to 
the  island  of  Coudres  ^^  15  leagues  below  Quebec, 
that  being  the  place  appointed  to  rendezvous  at, 
as  I  believe,  on  our  leaving  Ireland,  it  was  not  well 
known  whether  Quebec  was  in  our  hands  or  the 
enemies.  As  the  weather  was  still  very  foggy  and 
hazy,  we  were  obliged  to  steer  with  great  caution, 
constantly  ringing  our  bells  to  prevent  other  vessels 
from  coming  too  near.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  enter- 
tain the  reader  with  a  storm,  (so  often  done  by  fresh 
water  sailors),  where  the  sea  was  swelled  into  bil- 
lows mountains  high,  on  the  top  of  which  our  vessel 

^^  Isle  aux  Coudres,  i,  e. —  Filbert  Island  —  the  name  which 
it  still  bears,  and  which  was  bestowed  upon  it  by  Jacques 
Cartier  on  account  of  the  abundance  of  hazel  nuts  or  filberts 
which  he  found  upon  it  nearly  two  and  a  half  centuries 
before  Digby  saw  it.  , 


Lieutenant  Dtgbys  Journal. 


99 


I." 


hung,  and  was  in  danger  of  being  precipitated  to  the 
abyss  beneath,  as,  in  general,  the  weather  was  as  fa- 
vourable for  us  as  we  could  have  wished,  and  our 
passage  rendered  shorter  than  it  is  commonly  per- 
formed with  a  fleet,  where  the  whole  are  often  oblig^ed 
to  slacken  sail  for  one  heavy  sailing  ship.         / 

21^*.  Found  our  mizzen  mast  had  sprung  near  the 
deck,  so  dare  not  crowd  much  sail  on  it ;  our  exact- 
ness in  keeping  proper  order  in  our  stations  while 
under  way,  and  obeying  of  signals  from  the  convoys, 
was   a   pleasing   sight   to   one  not   used  to  such  a 

scene. — 

24^^   Had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  a  small  vessel  a 

head  of  us  coming  from  Quebec  with  the  agreeable 

news    of  that   place   being  still    in   our  possession ; 

though  the  enemy  had  lain  before  it  most  part  of  the 

winter  and  made  an  attempt  to  storm  it  on  the  31^^ 

December  under  the  command  of  General  M^Gomery, 

who  fell  with  many  others  in  the  attempt,  tho'  their 

numbers  were  treble  ours.''^     I  shall  here  insert  his 

''  Richard  Montgomery  was  born  at  Raphoe,  Ireland, 
December  2,  1736,  and  fell  in  the  attack  on  Quebec,  Decem- 
ber 31,  1775.  He  was  commissioned  in  the  British  army  in 
1754,  and  participated  in  the  siege  of  Louisburg  in  1758, 
and  after  service  in  the  West  Indies,  returned  to  Kngland 
in  1763.  He  emigrated  to  New  York  in  1772,  when  he 
married  a  daugliter  of  Robert  Livingston  and  settled  in 
Rhinebeck.  He  was  representative  to  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress in  1775,  and  appointed  a  brigadier-general  early  in  the 
same  year.  On  December  9th,  while  before  Quebec,  he 
received  his  appointment  as  brigadier-general.  While  lead- 
ing the  assault  against  the  upper  town,  having  captured  the 
first  barrier,  he  was  killed,  and  his  troops  seeing  him  fall  fell 


lOO 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


orders  to  his  troops  the  day  before  the  storm,  as  it 
will  serve  to  show,  how  sure  he  was  of  success,  and 
the  poor  opinion  he  had  of  our  garrison. 

General  orders  30"^"  Dec"",  1775. 
The  general  having  in  vain  offered  the  most  fa 
vourable  terms  of  accommodation  to  the  governor, 
and  having  taken  every  possible  step  to  prevail  on 
the  inhabitants  to  desist  from  seconding  him,  in  the 
wild  scheme  of  vigorous  measures  for  the  speedy 
reduction  of  the  only  hold  possessed  by  the  ministe- 
rial troops  in  the   province,  flushed  with   continual 

back  in  disorder.     Montgomery  was  buried  on  the  3rd  of 
January,  and  Henry  who  was  present  and  witnessed  it,  thus 
describes  his  funeral :  "  It  was  on  this  day  that  my  heart 
was  ready  to  burst  with  grief,  at  viewing  the  funeral  of  our 
beloved  general.     Carleton  had  in  our  former  days  with  the 
French,  been  the  friend  and  fellow  soldier  of  Montgomery. 
Though  poHtical  opinion,  perhaps  ambition  or  interest,  had 
thrown  these  worthies  on  different  sides  of  the  great  ques- 
tion, yet  the  former  could   but  honor  the  remains  of  his 
quondam   friend.     About  noon  the  procession  passed  our 
quarters.     It  was  most  solemn.     The  coffin  covered  with  a 
pall,  surmounted  with  transverse  swords,  was  borne  by  men. 
The  regular  troops,  particularly  that  fine  body  of  men,  the 
Seventh  Regiment,  with  reversed  arms,  and  scarfs  on  the  left 
elbow,  accompanied  the  corpse  to  the  grave.     From  many  of 
us  it  drew  tears  of  affection  for  the  defunct,  and  speaking  for 
myself,  tears  of  greeting  and  thankfulness  toward  General 
Carleton.     The  soldiery  and  inhabitants  appeared  affected 
by  the  loss  of  this  invaluable   man,  though  he  was  their 
enemy."     Other  writers  mention  the  peculiar  affection  borne 
toward  the  brave  general  by  those   opposed  to  him.     In 
the  British  Parliament  the  most  illustrious  men  of  the  time 
eulogized  him.     It  was  certainly  a  strange  sight.     It  is  said 
that  "  Colonel  Barre  was  particularly  remarked  for  the  noble 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


lOI 


success  and  confident  of  the  justice  of  their  cause, 
and  relying  on  that  Providence  which  has  uniformly- 
protected  them,  the  troops  will  advance  to  the  attack 
of  works  incapable  of  being  defended  by  the  wretched 
garrison  posted  behind  them,  consisting  of  sailors 
unacquainted  with  the  use  of  arms,  of  citizens  incapa- 
ble of  soldier's  duty,  and  a  few  miserable  emigrants. 
The  general  is  confident  a  vigorous  and  spirited  at- 
tack will  be  attended  with  success.  The  troops  shall 
have  the  effects  of  the  governor,  garrison  and  such 
as  have  been  active  in  misleading  the  inhabitants 
and  distressing  the  friends  of  liberty,  equally  divided 

pathos  of  the  regrets  he  consecrated  to  the  death  of  his 
gallant  enemy.  Burke  and  Fox  endeavored  to  surpass  this 
eulogium  in  their  speeches  ;  Fox  especially,  who,  as  yet 
very  young,  already  discovered  the  man  he  was  afterward 
to  be.  Lord  North  reprehended  them  sharply,  exclaiming 
that  it  was  indecent  1  >  lavish  so  many  praises  upon  a  rebel. 
He  admitted  that  Montgomery  was  brave,  able,  humane  and 
generous,  but  still  he  was  only  a  brave,  able,  humane  and 
generous  rebel.  He  cited  this  verse  of  Addison  in  Cato  : 
*  Curse  on  his  virtues,  they've  undone  his  country.'  Fox 
answered  him  immediately,  with  warmth,  that  *  the  term 
'  rebel,'  applied  to  that  excellent  person,  was  no  certain  mark 
of  disgrace,  and  therefore  he  was  the  less  earnest  to  clear 
him  of  the  imputation,  for  that  all  the  great  asserters  of 
liberty,  the  saviours  of  their  country,  the  benefactors  of 
mankind,  in  all  ages,  had  been  called  rebels  ;  that  they  even 
owed  the  constitution,  which  enabled  them  to  sit  in  that 
house,  to  a  rebellion.'  He  added  this  passage  from  the 
prince  of  Latin  poets,  '  Sunt  hie  etiam  sua  proemia  laudi, 
sunt  lachrymoe  rerum,  et  mentjitm  mortalia  tangunt.'  "  Vide 
Account  of  Arnold's  Campaign  Against  Quebec  (Henry), 
Albany,  1877,  p.  134;  Ramsay's  American  Revolution,  Phila., 
1789,  vol.  I,  p.  244;  Botta's  History  War  of  Independence, 
1820,  vol.  2,  p.  (i^. 


I02 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


among  them.  The  one  hundredth  share  of  the  whole 
shall  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  gen\  and  given  to 
such  soldiers  as  distinguish  themselves  by  their  ac- 
tivity and  bravery,  and  sold  at  public  auction.  The 
whole  to  be  regulated  as  soon  as  the  city  is  in  our 
hands  and  the  inhabitants  disarmed. — 

During  the  whole,  General  Carlton  behaved  with 
the  utmost  coolness  and  good  conduct,  and  deserves 
the  greatest  credit  for  keeping  the  place  with  such  a 
wretched  garrison  as  M*"  M'Gomery  was  pleased  to 
call  them. 

26^^  Anchored  off  the  Island  of  Coudres,  which 
is  remarkable  for  a  mountain  being  rooted  up  in  the 
year  1663  and  thrown  upon  this  island,  which  was 
made  one  half  larger  than  before,  and  in  place  of 
the  mountain,  there  appeared  a  g^lph  which  is  not 
safe  to  approach.^ 


80 


^  These  are  almost  the  exact  words  of  Charlevoix,  who 
says:  "In  1663  an  earthquake  rooted  up  a  mountain  and 
threw  it  upon  the  Isle  aux  Coudres  which  made  it  one  half 
larger  than  before."  This  earthquake,  according  to  a  manu- 
script in  the  Jesuits'  College  at  Quebec,  began  on  the  5th 
of  February,  1663,  at  about  half-past  five  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. It  extended,  as  we  know,  throughout  the  northern 
part  of  America.  The  first  shock,  and  the  most  violent  one, 
lasted  for  half  an  hour,  but  it  is  said  the  earthquake  con- 
tinued at  intervals  for  a  period  of  six  months  with  incon- 
ceivable violence.  Forests  were  uprooted,  mountains  pre- 
cipitated into  valleys,  rivers  diverted  from  their  courses  and 
often  swallowed  up  altogether,  and  even  the  mighty  waters 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  were  lashed  to  sudden  whiteness  by 
subterranean  commotion,  while  showers  of  volcanic  ashes 
darkened  the  air  in  some  places,  but  the  country  being  so 
lightly  inhabited,  of  course  no  great   damage   was   done. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


103 


:29*\  Got  a  pilot  to  conduct  us  as  quick  as  possi- 
ble to  Quebec. 

30^\  Being  one  of  the  first  ships  in  the  fleet,  we 
were  met  near  the  island  of  Orleans,^'  (a  beautiful 
island  about  14  leagues  in  compass  and  many 
inhabitants),  by  the  Hope  ship  going  express  to 
England.  A  lieutenant  of  a  man  of  war  came  on 
board  us,  and  very  politely  offered  to  take  charge  of 
any  letters  we  might  wish  to  forward  to  our  friends 
the  other  side  the  Atlantic.  He  informed  us  General 
Carlton  had  made  a  sally  on  the  enemy,  tho.  greatly 
superiour  to  him  in  numbers,  and  drove  them  with 
the  2(^^  &  ^f^  regiments,  to  a  strong  post  they  had  up 
the   river,^''  where   he  was  obliged  to  halt  till   our 

From  the  accounts  which  have  come  down  to  us,  it  was  far 
more  violent  than  any  which  has  occurred  in  southern 
Europe  within  the  historic  period.  Vide  Letters  to  the 
Duchesse  de  Lesdeguieres,  London,  1763,  p.  15  ;  Josselyn's 
Two  Voyages,  Boston,  1865,  p.  205  ;  Conquest  of  Canada, 
London,  1849,  Ayjpendix  XXI. 

^^  The  Indian  name  for  this  island  was  Minigo,  but  Cartier 
who  discovered  it  in  1535,  gave  it  the  name  Isle  of  Bacchus, 
on  account  of  the  wild  grapes  found  growing  there.  "  Lorsque 
Jacques  Carthier  decouvrit  cette  ile  il  la  trouva  toute  rem- 
plie  de  vignes,  et  la  nomina  I'lle  de  Bacchus.  Ce  naviga- 
teur  ^tait  Breton,  apres  lui  sont  venus  de  Normands  qui 
ont  arrache  les  vignes  et  a  Bacchus  ont  substitue  Pomme 
et  Ceres.'*  Vide  Journal  Historique,  p.  102 ;  Brief  Recit., 
etc.,  faite  en  MDXXXV,  Paris,  1863,  p.  14. 

*^  This  was  at  Fort  Sorel,  which  took  its  name  from  its 
builder,  M.  de  Sorel,  whose  name  also  attached  itself  to  the 
river,  at  the  mouth  of  which  the  fort  was  placed.  It  was 
first  named  by  Champlain,  The  River  of  the  Iroquois,  and 
subsequently  received  the  name  of  the  Richelieu  from  the 
famous  Cardinal  of  that  name. 


I04 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


arrival,  they  being  strongly  entrenched.  He  then 
proceeded  on  his  voyage.  About  12  at  night,  we 
came  to  an  anchor  before  Quebec  ;  Lord  Balcarres, 
our  major,  and  I  went  on  shore.  This  is  the  only 
city  in  the  world  that  can  boast  of  a  port  in  fresh 
water  120  leagues  from  the  sea  and  capable  of  con- 
taining 100  ships  of  the  line,  situated  on  the  most 
navigable  river  in  the  world,  in  latitude  47.56.  We 
then  went  on  board  the  his,  a  50  gun  ship,  com- 
modore Douglas^^  commanding,  and  from  him  re- 
ceived orders  to  proceed  directly,  (the  wind  being 
fair),  up  the  river,  and  ordered  another  pilot  to  con- 


^  Sir  Charles  Douglas,  "  a  very  good,  a  very  brave  and  a 
very  honest  man,"  was  a  descendant  of  the  Earl  of  Morton, 
and  was  appointed  a  lieutenant  in  the  British  navy,  Decem- 
ber 4,  1753.  He  was  a  man  of  great  energy  and  of  a  fear- 
less spirit.  Finding  the  ice  obstructing  his  course  to 
Quebec,  and  being  anxious  to  relieve  the  besieged  forces 
there,  he  put  his  ship  before  the  wind  during  a  gale  and  ran 
her  with  full  force  against  a  block  of  ice  twelve  feet  thick, 
crumbling  it  in  pieces  by  the  shock.  He  said  in  his  dis- 
patches :  "  We  now  thought  it  an  enterprise  worthy  of  an 
English  ship  of  the  line  in  our  king  and  country's  sacred 
cause,  and  an  effort  due  to  the  gallant  defense  of  Quebec, 
to  make  the  attempt  of  pressing  her,  by  force  of  sail, 
through  the  thick,  broad  and  closely  connected  fields  of 
ice  (as  formidable  as  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  ever  ex- 
hibited), to  which  we  saw  no  bounds."  His  arrival  on  the 
6th  of  May  before  Quebec  caused  the  besiegers  to  abandon 
their  post.  After  a  life  zealously  devoted  to  his  country's 
welfare,  he  died  March  10,  1789,  at  Musselburgh,  formerly 
Eskmouth,  Scotland.  Vide  Gentleman's  Magazine,  vol.  2, 
p.  506;  Burke's  Peerage  and  Baronetage,  in  loco ;  American 
Archives,  vol.  6,  p.  456;  British  Family  Antiquity  (Playfair), 
London,  181 1,  vol.  7,  pp.  Ixxxix-xcv. 


\ 


m3MM 


Lieutenant  Digby  s  Journal. 


105 


1 


duct  our  ship.  It  was  on  the  arrival  of  this  man 
of  war  the  enemy  flew,  she  appearing  before  Quebec 
the  sixth  of  May,  which  was  one  of  the  earliest 
ships  that  ever  made  that  place  before,  on  account 
of  the  ice,  and  she  was  near  lost,  being  almost 
froze  in.  The  great  joy  expressed  by  the  inhabit- 
ants on  our  informing  them  what  a  large  body  of 
troops  we  had  coming  to  their  relief  is  not  to  be 
described,  after  all  they  had  suffered  during  the 
winter. 

31^^  Came  to  an  anchor  at  Port  Neuf  12  leagues 
above  Quebec.  The  wind  not  continueing  fair,  we 
went  on  shore  and  got  great  plenty  of  vegetables, 
&'=  from  the  Canadians.  The  weather  was  lovely. 
The  country  is  only  cleared  about  half  a  mile  from 
the  river,  and  behind  such  woods, —  in  all  appearance 
as  old  as  the  world  itself, —  as  were  not  planted  by 
the  hands  of  men.  Nothing  is  more  magnificent 
to  the  sight;  the  trees  lose  themselves  in  the 
clouds,  and  there  is  such  a  prodigious  variety  -^f 
species,  that  even  among  those  persons  who  ha  e 
taken  most  pains  to  know  them,  there  is  not  one, 
perhaps,  that  knows  half  the  number.  Many  of  our 
fleet  were  a  small  way  in  our  stern  waiting  for  the 
breeze. 

June  i^^  Received  orders  to  disembark,  (the 
wind  still  against  us  or  rather  a  calm),  and  march 
up  on  shore  towards  the  enemy.  We  were  about 
500  men  —  and  more,  we  hoped,  not  far  in  our 
rear  —  all  in  great  spirits  on  leaving  the  ships.     Our 


^■■■1 


io6 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


camp  e([iiipage  and  other  baggage  were  left  on 
board,  to  come  up  when  the  wind  would  serve. 
After  easy  marches,  we  came  to  Trois  Riviere  ^^ 
a  neat  village  and  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  colony 
half  way  from  Quebec  to  Montreal,  the  whole  being 
sixty  leagues,  the  river  being  navigable  lOO  leagues 
from  the  sea  for  large  vessels.  Troops  were  joining 
us  fast.  I  suppose  we  might  then  have  about  i,ooo 
with  some  field  pieces  &  many  of  our  ships  off  the 
town.  We  posted  strong  guards,  the  enemy  being 
so  very  near,  and  intended  to  halt  there  till  the  com- 
ing up  of  the  rest  of  the  army. 

7^^   More  of  our  troops  came  up  by  water. 

8^^  About  4  in  the  morning  an  alarm  was  given 
by  an  out  picquet,  of  the  approach  of  a  strong 
body  of  the  enemy.  The  greatest  part  of  the 
troops  still  remained  on  board  as  they  had  arrived 
late  the  night  before.  Soon  after  the  alarm  was 
given,  a  few  shots  were  heard  from  one  of  our 
armed  vessels  that  was  stationed  a  small  way  above 
the  village,  who  fired  on  part  of  the  enemy  advanc- 
ing between  the  skirts  of  the  wood  and  the  river. 
In  the  mean  time,  the  troops  on  shore  were  ordered 


®^  Trois  Rivieres  is  situated  at  the  confluence  of  the  rivers 
St.  Maurice  and  St.  Lawrence,  and  was  thus  named  on 
account  of  an  island  so  dividing  the  waters  as  to  give  the 
appearance  of  three  rivers.  The  town  was  founded  in  1618, 
and  at  the  time  Digby  saw  it,  contained  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  houses  and  twelve  hundred  inhabitants.  At  the 
present  time  it  contains  nearly  ten  thousand  inhabitants  and 
is  increasing  in  prosperity. 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


107 


to  line  every  avenue  from  the  village  to  the  wood, 
and  take  post  in  the  best  manner  possible.  Those 
on  board  were  ordered  to  land  with  the  greatest 
dispatch.  About  5  o'clock,  strong  advanced  parties 
were  sent  towards  the  wood,  where  they  discovered 
the  enemy  marching  down  in  three  columns,  who 
immediately  began  a  heavy  fire  with  small  arrrs, 
which  was  instantly  returned.  In  the  meantime, 
a  strong  reinforcement  of  our  troops  with  some  field 
pieces  arrived,  which  soon  swept  the  woods  and  broke 
their  columns,  the  remains  of  which  were  pursued  by 
us  as  far  as  was  prudent.  The  enemy  from  that  time 
did  nothing  regular;  but  broken  and  dispersed,  fired 
a  few  scattered  shots  which  did  little  execution.  A 
strong  detachment  of  1200  men  under  the  command 
of  Lieu'  Colonel  Frazier,  marched  up  the  river  to  try, 
if  possible,  to  get  between  [them]  &  their  battows 
(boats  flat  bottomed)  but  the  attempt  did  not  suc- 
ceed thro,  their  hasty  flight.  We  took  280  prisoners 
with  their  general  Thompson, ^^  -^^q  commanded  the 

^^  William  Thompson,  of  whom  says  Henry,  "  this  is  a 
man,"  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  had  served  as  a  captain 
in  the  ^even  years'  war.  The  year  before,  he  had  been  made 
colonel  of  the  Pennsylvanian  battalion.  It  had  been  proposed 
to  give  him  the  command  in  Virginia,  but  Washington, 
although  Thompson  had  served  with  him  at  Cambridge  and 
won  his  esteem,  fearing  that  it  would  create  jealousy,  opposed 
the  appointment.  Congress,  however,  soon  after  raised  him  to 
the  rank  of  brigadier-general  and  assigned  him  to  service 
in  Canada.  During  the  battle,  Thompson  with  Colonel 
Irvine  and  a  small  body  of  men,  were  cut  off  from  the  main 
body,  and  becoming  entangled  in  swamps  for  twenty-four 
hours  wandered  about  till  exhausted.     **  We  concluded," 


i 


1 08 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


expedition,  and  six  other  officers.  Upwards  of  50 
were  found  killed  in  the  woods,  and  it  was  supposed 
many  others,  wounded  and  straglers,  must  have 
perished  there,  for  they  themselves  acknowledge  on 
that  day  to  have  lost  630  men.  Ours  was  5  killed 
and  14  wounded  ;  no  ofificer  was  hurt.®** 

said  Irvine,  "  it  would  be  better  to  deliver  ourselves  up  to 
British  officers  than  to  run  the  risk  of  being  murdered  in 
the  woods  by  the  Canadians ;  accordingly  we  went  up  to  a 
house  where  we  saw  a  guard  and  surrendered  ourselves, 
prisoners  at  discretion."  He  complained  of  the  treatment 
of  Colonel  Nesbit,  the  officer  in  command,  who  hurried 
them  with  a  crowd  of  prisoners  on  a  forced  march  to  headquar- 
ters, six  miles  distant,  but  said  that  upon  their  arrival  there 
they  found  Generals  Carleton  and  Burgoyne,  who  treated 
them  very  politely  and  ordered  for  them  refreshments,  which 
General  Burgoyne  himself  served.  General  Riedesel,  how- 
ever, seems  to  have  regarded  the  captives  with  contempt,  as 
he  alludes  to  General  Thompson  as  "  a  certain  Thompson 
who  represents  a  so-called  general."  He  remained  a  pris- 
oner for  two  years,  when  he  was  exchanged.  In  a  letter  to 
General  Heath,  Washington  wrote,  referring  to  a  proposed 
exchange  of  Generals  Thompson  and  Hamilton  :  "  If  you 
cannot  succeed  in  that,  they  "  (the  Board  of  War)  "  desire  you 
to  feel  the  pulse  of  the  two  other  brigadiers,  either  of  whom 
we  would  willingly  exchange  for  General  Thompson."  He 
lived  but  three  years  after  his  exchange,  and  died  Septem- 
ber 4,  1 78 1,  at  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania.  Vide  Account  of 
Arnold's  Campaign  Against  Quebec,  p.  175  ;  Sparks*  Wash- 
ington, vol.  3,  pp.  loi,  309,  315,  ct passiiHy  vol.  5,  358  ;  Ram- 
say's American  Revolution,  vol.  I,  p.  273;  Hadden's  Journal 
and  Orderly  Books,  n.,  p.  176;  Memoirs  of  Major-General 
Riedesel,  Albany,  1868,  vol.  i,  p.  289. 

**  After  the  death  of  General  Thomas,  who  was  withdraw- 
ing his  forces  towards  the  south  in  order  to  place  them  in 
as  strong  and  safe  positions  as  possible,  the  command  de- 
volved upon  Sullivan,  who,  from  his  dispatches,  appears  to 


Lieutenant  Dis^bys  Journal. 


109 


9*^  About  6  in  the  evening  we  came  into  the  vil- 
lage, after  leaving  strong  guards  &'^  out.  The  trans- 
ports, supposed  to  have  gone  on  shore  the  night  of 
the  7  May,  arrived  to  our  great  joy ;  but  this  was 
considerably  damped  by  the  account  of  the  death  of 
poor  Charles  Haughton,^'  a  lieutenant  in  our  regi- 
ment and  my  particular  friend.  He  was  killed  by  a 
fall  from  a  rock,  in  the  island  of  Coudres,  the  chape 
of  his  sword  running  into  his  temple.  His  premature 
death  was  lamented  by  all  who  knew  him.  The  differ- 
ent brigades  were  then  formed,  and  our  corps,  consist- 
ing of  all  the  light  infantry  and  grenadiers  of  the 
army,  (viz  9^^  2o'^  21^  24'^  29^^  31''^  34'^  47'^  53*^.  & 
52°d  regiments,  with  the  24'**  regiment  under  the  com- 
mand of  Brigadier  general  Frazier,  lieutenant  colonel 
of  the  24^^  regiment,  and  called  the  advanced  corps, 

have  been  elated  at  finding  himself  in  possession  of  the 
chief  command,  and  he  conceived,  without  knowing  the 
strength  of  the  enemy,  the  possibility  of  "  recovering,"  as 
he  expressed  it,  with  his  shattered  and  starving  forces, 
"  that  ground  which  former  troops  have  so  shamefully  lost." 
In  pursuance  of  this  impracticable  scheme,  for  which  it  is 
but  fair  to  say  he  was  but  partially  responsible,  since  Con- 
gress pressed  him  to  it,  he  pushed  the  Pennsylvania  troops 
back  against  the  overwhelming  forces  of  the  enemy,  and 
thereby  sacrificed  them,  a  blunder  almost  inexcusable  under 
the  circumstances. 

^  Charles  Houghton,  Digby's  friend,  has  left  no  record  of 
his  death  save  in  this  journal  of  his  companion  in  arms.  A 
search  of  the  army  lists  reveals  that  he  was  commissioned 
an  ensign  in  the  Fifty  third  Foot  on  November  6,  1769,  and 
a  lieutenant  on  July  3,  1772.  He  was,  it  appears,  suc- 
ceeded by  William  McFarlane,  July  10,  1776,  but  no  men- 
tion is  made  of  his  death.     Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco. 


!  [Mi  JTiwHJiiMWlMWa 


no 


Lieutenant  Dighy  s  Journal. 


the  rest  of  the  army  consisting  of  the  British  regi- 
ments above  named,  and  German  troops  under  the 
command  of  General  Reidezel,^^  were  formed  into 
brigades  &  brigadier  generals  commanding  them,  by 
which  we  took  leave  of  our  respective  regiments  till 
the  closing  of  the  campaign.  Lord  Balcarres,  m^ajor 
to  the  53^^  regiment,  was  appointed  major  to  the  light 

*^  Frederick  Adolphus  Riedesel  was  born  June  3,  1738,  at 
Lauterbach  in  Rhinehesse,  and  was  in  command  of  the 
Brunswickers.  He  entered  college  at  the  age  of  fifteen, 
but,  having  his  military  ardor  awakened  by  witnessing  the 
evolutions  of  the  troops  at  Marburg,  he  left  the  law  school 
there  and  joined  a  regiment.  He  served  during  the  seven 
years'  war  with  distinction,  and  was  made  major-general  of 
the  Brunswick  troops,  which  George  the  Third  hired  to  aid 
in  quelling  the  rebellion  of  his  American  subjects.  He  was 
not  exchanged  until  late  in  the  autumn  of  1780.  After  his 
exchange,  he  was  put  in  command  at  Long  Island,  but  in 
the  summer  of  1781  resumed  his  command  in  Canada. 
Here  he  remained  until  1783,  when  he  was  ordered  home. 
His  devoted  wife  with  her  children  accompanied  him  through 
the  war,  and  often  shared  his  perils.  Her  letters  home,  giving 
a  graphic  account  of  the  scenes  witnessed  by  her  during  the 
war,  are  extremely  interesting,  and  show  her  to  have  been  a 
remarkable  woman.  The  Americans  were  greatly  incensed  at 
the  employment  of  foreign  troops  against  them  by  the  British 
monarch,  and  exclaimed  :  "  He  employs  the  borrowed  tools 
of  the  most  detestable  tyrants  of  Europe  to  subvert  Ameri- 
can liberty  and  to  erect  on  its  ruins  the  same  despotic 
power  of  which  they  are  the  instruments  and  guardians  in 
their  own  native  land."  The  detestation  in  which  these 
foreign  hirelings  were  held,  doubtless  caused  their  acts  to  be 
greatly  exaggerated.  In  their  own  country  they  were  re- 
garded as  noble  men  and  brave  soldiers,  and  their  martial 
deeds  were  embalmed  in  song.  It  is  well  to  see  how  they 
were  received  on  their  return  home  after  their  campaign  in 
America,  that  the  scene  may  be  contrasted  with  the  pictures  of 


^ 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


Ill 


infantry ;  and  major  Ackland,^^  major  20^^  regiment, 

to  the  battallion  of  grenadiers.     I  suppose  the  army 

at  this  period  about  9,000. — 

10^''.  Received  orders  to  embark  except  the  above 

1 200  under  the  command  of  brigadier  general  Frazier, 

them  by  American  writers.  Says  Madame  Riedesel,  writing 
a  few  days  after  her  return  home :  "  I  had  the  great  satis- 
faction of  seeing  my  husband,  with  his  own  troops,  pass 
through  the  city.  Yes !  these  very  streets,  in  which  eight 
and  a  half  years  before,  I  had  los:  my  joy  and  happiness,  were 
the  ones  where  I  now  saw  this  beautiful  and  soul-stirring 
spectacle.  But  it  is  beyond  my  power  to  describe  my  emo- 
tions at  beholding  my  beloved,  upright  husband,  who  the 
whole  time  had  lived  solely  for  his  duty,  and  who  had  con- 
stantly been  so  unwearied  in  helping  and  assisting,  as  far  as 
possible,  those  who  had  been  intrusted  to  him,  often,  too, 
out  of  his  own  purse,  never  receiving  any  return  for  the 
expenditure  —  standing,  "/ith  tears  of  joy  in  his  eyes,  in  the 
midst  of  his  soldiers,  who  in  turn  were  surrounded  by  a  joy- 
ous and  sorrowful  crowd  of  fathers,  mothers,  wives,  children, 
sisters  and  friends  —  all  pressing  around  him  to  see  again 
their  loved  ones."  This  was  in  the  autumn  of  1783.  Gen- 
eral Riedesel  lived  for  seventeen  years  after  this,  dying 
January  6,  1800.  Vide  Letters  and  Journal  of  Madame 
Riedesel,  pp.  2-7 ;  Memoirs  of  Major-General  Riedesel,  pp. 
2-6;  Graham's  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  6,  p.  420. 
^'-^  John  Dyke  Acland  was  a  native  of  Tetton,  Somerset- 
shire, and  was  born  February  21,  1747.  He  was  commis- 
sioned an  ensign  in  the  Thirty-third  Foot,  March  23,  1774. 
He  became  a  captain  in  the  same  regiment  March  23rd,  and 
a  major  of  the  Twentieth  Foot,  December  16,  1775,  by  pur- 
chase. He  commanded  the  grenadiers,  both  in  the  campaign 
of  ''](i  and  that  of  ''j'j.  His  bravery  and  carelessness  of 
exposing  himself  in  battle  caused  him  to  be  twice  wounded 
in  the  latter  campaign,  at  Hubbardton  through  the  thighs, 
and  at  Bemus  Heights  through  the  legs.  While  lying  on 
the  field  wounded  and  partially  supported  by  a  fence  he 
would  have  been  murdered  by  a  young  barbarian,  who  was 


oatte 


I  12 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


who  had  not  then  taken  the  command  of  the  ad- 
vanced corps  but  was  expected  hourly. 

upon  the  point  of  shooting  him  when  arrested  in  his  cruel 
design  by  Major  Wilj<inson,  who  protected  him.  One  of  the 
many  patriotic  poets  of  the  period  referred  to  him  and 
the  lamented  Fraser  in  this  manner : 

"  Bleeding  and  lost  the  captured  Acland  lies, 
While  leaden  slumbers  seal  his  Eraser's  eyes  ; 
Fraser  !  whose  deeds  unfailing  glories  claim, 
Eudear'd  by  virtue  and  adorn'd  by  fame." 

His  wife,  the  Lady  Harriet  Acland,  accompanied  him 
through  the  terrible  campaign  of  ''j'j,  and  by  her  beauty, 
refinement  and  devotion  to  her  husband,  has  been  made  the 
theme  of  many  pens,  and  gained  the  admiration  of  all  'overs 
of  exalted  virtue.  During  his  brief  captivity,  he  madf  many 
friends  among  the  Americans,  and  on  his  return  to  England 
defended  them  against  unfair  criticism.  He  had  recently 
entered  Parliament,  when  he  was  suddenly  cut  short  in  a 
most  promising  career,  dying  at  Pixton,  in  Somersetshire, 
November  22,  1778,  but  a  few  months  after  his  return  from 
America.  Many  conflicting  accounts  have  been  given  of  the 
cause  of  his  death,  one  making  him  the  victim  of  a  duel  grow- 
ing out  of  his  defense  of  the  Americans.  He  had  indeed, 
on  the  morning  of  his  fatal  attack,  had  a  harmless  duel, 
when  having  returned  to  breakfast  he  was  suddenly  seized 
with  apoplexy,  and  died  four  days  after.  Conflicting  stories 
have  also  been  related  of  his  wife's  subsequent  marriage. 
Fonblanque  and  other  writers  have  declared  that  after 
her  husband's  death,  she  married  the  chaplain  who  accom- 
panied her  after  the  battle  of  Bemus  Heights  through  storm 
and  darkness  to  the  American  camp  to  seek  her  wounded 
husband,  but  Mr.  Wm.  L.  Stone  has  furnished  undoubted 
proof  that  she  died  the  widow  of  Major  Acland,  July  21, 
181 5.  Vide  Burke's  Peerage  and  Baronetage,  and  British 
Army  Lists,  z;/  loco;  A  State  of  the  Expedition,  p.  127; 
Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  pp.  269-271,  377;  Polit- 
ical and  Military  Episodes,  p.  301,  et  seq. ;  W.  L.  Stone  in 
Magazine  of  American  History,  for  January,  1880;  Hadden's 
Journal  and  Orderly  Books,  pp.  lii-lvi,  88. 


\ 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


1^3 


li 


1 1*'*  &  I2^^  Were  becalmed. 

13^.  Sailed  up  the  river  with  a  fair  wind  as  far  as 
lake  St.  Piere  ^  where  the  wind  failed  us. 

i^\  About  one  in  the  morning,  his  excellency, 
general  Carlton,  came  up  and  immediately  ordered 
the  fleet  to  get  under  way  ;  the  wind  then  turning 
fair,  but  soon  after  an  express  arriving  and  some 
shots  being  heard  fired  on  shore  [he]  ordered  them 
to  anchor.  The  appearance  of  such  a  fleet  so  great 
a  distance  from  the  sea,  was  well  worth  seeing, 
also  the  beauty  of  the  river,  many  villages  being 
scattered  on  its  banks,  with  the  mildness  of  the 
weather  and  the  verdure  of  the  country,  (the  trees 
being  then  all  in  bloom),  formed  a  most  romantic 
and  charming  prospect,  particularly  after  being  so 
many  weeks  at  sea.  In  less  than  an  hour,  the 
general's  ship  got  under  way,  [and]  sailed  ahead 
towards  the  frigate,  when  the  whole  fleet  weighed, 
and  at  day  light,  were  ordered  to  form  a  line  of 
battle  as  near  as  the  channel  would  admit.  On  our 
opening  [upon]  the  fort  Sorrel,  the  troops  got  orders 
to  be  in  readiness  to  land  on  the  shortest  notice, 
the  signal  being  a  blue  ensign  at  the  frigate's  miz- 
zen  picue.  Soon  after  we  received  orders  for  the 
light  infantry  and  grenadiers  of  the  army,  with  the 
first  brigade  only,  to  land,  and  about  9  in  the  eve- 
ning,   reached  the   shore    under  the    command   of 

^This  lake  was  so  named  by  Champlain  who  entered  it 
June  29th,  St.  Peter's  day.  Vide  Champlain's  Voyages,  vol. 
I,  p.  259. 

15 


'«B'*t»^BWVg5g'to)Jt\^a 


'■-ffiffi  ■  wn-iiriiiiiitiiiii'nin'i  r 


114 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


brigadier  general  Nesbit,''  lieutenant  colonel  of  47*'' 
regiment. — 

We  found  the  enemy  had  deserted  their  lines, 
and  about  10  o'clock  the  troops  took  post  and  lay 
all  night  on  their  arms. 

I5*^  At  day  break,  lieutenant  general  Burgoyne'* 
landed  with  the  9^^  &  31^^  Battallions,  with  six  six- 

"^  William  Nesbit  had  been  stationed  in  Massachusetts  and 
was  the  Lieutenant-Colonel  Nesbit  who  took  part  in  the 
battles  of  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill  and  participated  in 
the  burning  of  Charlestown.  He  had  at  this  time  been  in 
the  king's  service  twenty-five  years,  having  entered  the 
Thirty-sixth  Foot  as  an  ensign,  April  20,  175 1,  and  been 
advanced  to  a  lieutenancy  October  15,  1754,  and  a  captaincy 
in  the  second  battalion  of  the  Thirty-first  Foot,  September 
2,  1756,  which  became  subsequently  the  Seventieth  Foot. 
Of  this  regiment  he  was  made  Major  May  i,  1760,  and 
November  24,  1762,  was  raised  to  the  lieutenant-colonelcy 
of  the  Fourth  Foot.  This  was  his  rank  in  the  Forty-seventh 
Foot  at  the  battles  of  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill.  His 
regiment  was  ordered  to  Canada  in  the  spring  of  ''jd,  and 
Nesbit  became  brigadier-general  of  the  First  Brigade.  He 
was  a  strict  disciplinarian,  and  was  accused  by  the  Americans 
of  harshness  and  cruelty.  He  was  taken  suddenly  sick  dur- 
ing the  campaign  of  ''j6,  and  returned  to  Quebec,  where  after 
an  illness  of  a  few  weeks,  he  died.  Vide  British  Army  Lists, 
in  loco ;  History  of  the  Siege  of  Boston  (Frothingham),  p. 
200;  American  Archives,  series  5,  vol.  3,  p.  1089. 

^  John  Burgoyne  was  the  descendant  of  an  old  and  noted 
family  of  Sutton.  In  1 38;  it  is  said  that  John  of  Gaunt  granted 
to  the  family  the  extensive  manors  of  Sutton  and  Potton  by 
the  following  curious  deed : 

"  I,  John  of  Gaunt 
Do  give  and  do  graunt 
Unto  Roger  Burgoyne 
And  the  heirs  of  his  loyne 
All  Sutton  and  Potton 
Until  the  world's  rotten." 


"H: 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


"5 


pounders,  as   he   was    appointed   to   command   the 
expedition    against     fort     Chamble    and     fort     St 

He  was  born  February  4,  1722-3.  The  question  of  his 
paternity  has  been  discussed  by  many  writers,  most  ably 
by  Colonel  Horatio  Rogers,  to  whose  article  the  reader  is 
referred.  He  was  educated  at  Westminster,  and  in  1744 
held  a  commission  in  the  Thirteenth  Dragoons.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-one  he  eloped  with  Lady  Charlotte,  the  daughter 
of  the  Earl  of  Derby.  Four  years  later  he  retired  from  the 
army  and  resided  on  the  continent  until  June  14,  1756,  when 
he  re-entered  the  army  with  a  captain's  commission  in  the 
Eleventh  Dragoons  and  served  under  the  great  Duke  of 
Marlborough  in  the  attacks  on  Cherbourg  and  St.  Malo  in 
1758,  and  on  May  loth,  of  the  same  year,  he  was  appointed 
captain-lieutenant  in  the  Second  Foot  Guards  with  the 
army  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel.  On  August  4,  1759,  he 
was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel  in  command  of  the  Six- 
teenth Dragoons,  which  achieved  fame  as  "  Burgoyne's 
Light  Horse."  In  1762,  with  the  rank  of  colonel  in  the 
army  and  of  brigadier-general  for  the  campaign,  he  served 
with  honor  in  Spain  and  returned  to  England  the  next  year 
with  a  brilliant  reputation.  He  had  been  elected  to  repre- 
sent the  borough  of  Midhurst  in  Parliament  in  1762,  and 
served  as  a  representative  of  this  borough  for  six  years,  when 
he  was  elected  to  represent  Preston,  which  position  he  con- 
tinued to  hold  through  life.  He  was  now  at  the  height  of 
his  fame,  rich  and  courted,  with  a  marked  reputation  as  a 
statesman  and  literary  man.  Among  other  honors  conferred 
upon  him,  was  that  of  being  raised  to  the  rank  of  major- 
general  in  the  army  May  25,  1772.  When  the  war  with 
America  broke  out,  Burgoyne  was  one  of  the  first  to  whom 
the  king  turned,  and  with  Clinton  and  Howe  was  assigned  to 
service  there.  The  frigate  upon  which  they  embarked  April 
20,  1775,  and  which  reached  Boston  May  20th,  bore  the  sug- 
gestive name  of  the  Cerberus,  which  inspired  the  following 
humorous  lines : 

-  '•  Behold  the  Cerberus  the  Atlantic  plough, 

Her  precious  cargo,  Burgoyne,  Clinton,  Howe, 
Bow,  wow,  wow." 


^ 


ii6 


Lieutenant  Dighys  Journal. 


Johns,93  ti^e  latter  on  the  banks  of  lake  Champlain  and 
the  former  1 2  leagues  nearer  Quebec  ;  and  at  9  o'clock, 
the  army  in  number  about  4000,  received  orders  to 
march.     That  night  we  reached  St  Denis,  about  50 

He  witnessed  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  but  took  no  part 
in  it,  and  in  November  returned  to  England.  The  remain- 
der of  his  military  career  may  be  traced  here  in  the  journal 
of  Digby.  Burgoyne's  wife  died  June  7,  1776,  while  he  was 
engaged  in  the  campaign  of  that  year.  Some  time  after  his 
return  from  his  disastrous  campaign  in  America,  he  became 
connected  with  a  public  singer  with  whom  he  reared  out  of 
wedlock,  four  children,  one  of  whom  became  the  noted  field 
marshal,  Sir  John  Burgoyne.  Some  of  his  dramatic  com- 
positions attained  great  popularity  and  ran  through  many 
editions.  A  complete  collection  of  his  works  are  to  be 
found  in  the  British  Museum.  He  died  August  4,  1792,  and 
was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey.  Vide  Burke's  Peerage 
and  Baronetage ;  British  Army  Lists,  and  Chronological 
Register  of  Parliament,  iji  loco;  Political  and  Military  Epi- 
sodes, pp.  4-9,  1 5,  27,  54,  et passim  ;  Remembrancer  of  Public 
Events,  London,  1775,  vol.  i,p.  16;  Registers  of  Westminster 
Abbey,  p.  250 ;  British  Family  Antiquity,  vol.  6,  p.  314. 

^Chambly.  This  fort  as  well  as  the  town  situated  at  the 
foot  of  the  rapids  of  the  river  Richelieu  or  Sorel,  twelve 
miles  east,  south-east  of  Montreal,  took  its  title  from  a 
Frenchman  of  that  name.  It  occupied  the  site  of  a  wooden 
structure  called  Fort  St.  Louis,  erected  in  1764  to  protect 
the  inhabitants  from  the  hostile  Iroquois.  Chambly  was 
captured  by  the  Americans,  October  20,  1775,  and  had  been 
held  by  them  to  this  time.  Fort  St.  Johns,  about  twenty- 
eight  miles  south-east  of  Montreal  on  the  same  river,  had  been 
taken  by  Montgomery  in  November,  he  having  passed  it  in 
the  night  and  captured  Chambly  below,  which  was  not  so 
well  garrisoned,  as  the  British  supposed  that  St.  Johns  would 
be  the  object  of  attack.  The  works  here  had  been  first 
erected  by  Montcalm,  and  subsequently  enlarged  and 
strengthened  by  the  British.  It  was  about  one  hundred  and 
fifteen  miles  north  of  Ticonderoga,  the  American  stronghold. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


117 


miles,  which,  notwithstanding  the  great  heat  of  the 
day  and  the  fatigue  the  men  underwent  the  night 
before,  they  executed  with  the  greatest  cheerfulness. 
We  heard  the  enemy  were  flying  before  us  in  the 
greatest  terror.  The  Canadian  voluntiers  took  one 
prisoner  and  shot  another  who  was  in  liquor  and 
refused  to  surrender.^* 

I6*^  The  army  halted  greatly  fatigued,  owing 
chiefly  to  their  being  so  long  confined  on  ship 
board. 


^  Jones,  on  the  other  side,  gives  graphic  pictures  of  this 
retreat.  He  says  that  the  troops  "  Had  barely  quitted  one 
end  of  Chamblee  when  the  advance-guard  of  the  column 
under  Burgoyne  entered  it  at  the  other.  The  sick  had  been 
sent  on  ahead  from  St.  Johns  to  Isle-aux-Noix.  But  two 
men  could  be  spared  from  those  fit  for  duty  to  row  each 
boatload  of  them,  and  these  pulled  wearily  all  night  long, 
with  their  helpless  burdens,  against  the  current  of  the  river, 
for  the  distance  of  twelve  miles.  They  reached  Isle-aux- 
Noix  just  before  day.  What  more  distressing  situation  can 
be  imagined  ?  The  greater  number  of  the  sick  were  utterly 
helpless,  some  died  on  the  way,  others  were  dying,  —  all 
crying  out  for  relief  which  could  not  be  furnished  them. 
'  It  broke  my  heart,'  wrote  Dr.  Meyrick,  a  surgeon  who  was 
with  them  on  the  Isle-aux-Noix,  *  and  I  wept  till  I  had  no 
more  power  to  weep.'  "  And  another  writer  speaking  of  the 
troops  which  reached  Crown  Point :  *'  The  broken  fragments 
of  the  army  of  Canada  presented  one  of  the  most  distress- 
ing sights  witnessed  during  the  whole  war.  Of  the  five 
thousand  two  hundred  men  collected  at  Crown  Point,  two 
thousand  eight  hundred  were  so  sick  as  to  require  the  atten- 
tion of  the  hospital,  while  those  reported  fit  for  duty  were 
half  naked,  emaciated  and  entirely  broken  down  in  strength, 
spirits  and  discipline."  Vide  Campaign  for  the  Conquest  of 
Canada,  Philadelphia,  1882,  p.  88 ;  History  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  (Palmer)  Albany,  1866,  p.  115. 


ii8 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


1 7*\  The  whole  moved  in  the  evening  and  reached 
Belloeille,  eight  leagues. 

I8^^  Marched  at.  2  o'clock  in  the  morning  for  fort 
Chamble,  which  we  reached  about  9  the  same  day,  13 
miles,  and  found  the  fort  burned,  the  enemy  having 
retreated  to  St  Johns.  We  found  4  battows  and  took 
2  prisoners.  'Tis  remarkable  they  did  not  burn  or 
destroy  any  bridges  from  Sorrel ;  had  they  done  so,  it 
must  have  delayed  us  greatly,  but  between  the  forts 
of  Chamble  and  St  John's,  about  12  miles,  they  de- 
stroyed all  the  bridges,  which  in  such  a  wild  country 
are  not  a  few,  for  every  rivulet  must  have  something 
like  a  bridge  to  render  it  passable,  and  this  detained 
us  some  hours.  About  12  at  noon,  the  line  was 
ordered  to  move  [on]  the  enemy,  who  were  not  then 
5  hours  before  us.  The  army  marched  in  the  greatest 
regularity,  as  from  intelligence  received,  the  general 
had  no  doubt  but  he  should  be  attacked  on  his  march, 
our  road  leading  thro,  thick  woods.  When  we  got 
within  about  a  league  of  St  Johns,  the  general  was 
informed  that  a  party  which  had  been  taken  for 
an  advance  guard  of  theirs  coming  out  to  meet 
us,  was  their  rear  guard,  covering  their  retreat, 
on  which  three  companies  of  light  infantry  were 
ordered  on,  which  they  did  on  a  trot,  and  reached 
the  fort  about  dark,  finding  it  abandoned  and  on 
fire.  The  army  came  up  about  half  an  hour  after 
and  lay  on  their  arms  all  night. 

Following  are  the  general  orders  from  Burgoyne 
to  the  army. — 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


119 


General   Orders. 

"The  expedition  on  which  Lieut  Gen.  Burgoyne 
has  had  the  honour  to  be  employed  being  finished 
by  the  precipitate  flight  of  the  rebels,  he  shall 
think  it  his  duty  to  make  a  faithful  report  to  his 
excellency  the  commander  in  chief,  of  the  zeal 
and  activity  shewn  in  the  lofficers  and  men  under 
his  command,  to  surmount  the  difficulties  of  the 
march  and  come  to  action.  Those  are  principles 
that  cannot  fail  to  produce  the  most  glorious 
effects  whenever  the  enemy  shall  acquire  boldness 
enough  to  put  them  to  the  proof. — " 

Thus  was  Canada  saved  with  much  less  trouble 
than  was  expected  on  our  embarking  from  Great 
Britain.  How  to  pursue  them  over  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  was  our  next  thought,  and  the  tediousness 
that  threatened  our  operations  necessary  for  so 
great  an  expedition  was  far  from  pleasing.  We 
had  every  thing  to  build,  battows  to  convey  the 
troops  over,  and  armed  schooners  and  sloops  to 
oppose  theirs,  most  of  which  were  taken  from  us 
at  the  breaking  out  of  the  affair.  It  was  thought 
that  every  thing  would  be  ready  in  7  or  8  weeks, 
but  the  undertaking  was  a  great  one,  and,  I  must 
say,  persevered  in  with  the  greatest  dispatch  possible. 
Carpenters  from  all  the  ships  were  ordered  up  with 
artificers  from  the  different  regiments.  Most  of  the 
Canadians  thro,  the  province  were  employed  in  mak- 
ing roads  through  the  woods,  bringing  up  cannons, 
provisions  and  all  other  kind  of  stores  requisite  for 


I20 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


such  an  undertaking.  The  disaffected  Canadians  were 
obliged  to  work  in  irons.  Our  fleet  at  that  time  was 
got  up  to  Montreal,  where,  I  believe,  they  before 
never  saw  such  a  one.  The  island  of  Montreal  is 
ten  leagues  long  from  east  to  west  and  near  four 
leagues  in  breadth.  A  mountain  rises  in  the 
middle  about  half  a  league  from  the  town,  which  is 
a  long  square  situated  on  the  bank  of  the  river. 
Boats  from  all  the  ships  were  sent  round  by  the 
river  Sorrel,  (which  runs  into  the  St  Lawrence  at 
that  town,)  with  every  article  wanting  at  fort  St 
Johns.  There  was  a  carrying  place  of  6  or  7  miles 
between  that  place  and  fort  Chamble,  where  all  boats 
and  battows  were  drawn  over  by  rollers,  with  a  great 
number  of  horses.  Two  sloops  of  war  carrying  12 
guns  each,  then  lying  at  Chamble,  were  attempted 
to  be  so  brought  up,  but  found  not  practicable,  on 
which  their  guns  were  taken  out,  the  vessels  taken 
to  pieces  and  rebuilt  at  St  Johns,  during  which  time, 
other  hands  were  busyily  employed  in  building  the 
Carlton,  a  12  gun  schooner,  and  the  Inflexible,  a  28 
gun  frigate,  also  a  floating  battery  of  great  strength, 
carrying  mortars,  shells  &''  and  24  pounders  ;  during 
which  the  army  was  encamped  as  contiguously  to  the 
lake  as  possible. 

July  5*\  We  were  joined  by  a  nation  of  savages, 
many  more  were  shortly  expected  at  our  camp,  and 
I  must  say  their  appearance  came  fully  up  [to]  or 
even  surpassed  the  idea  I  had  conceived  of  them. 
They  were  much   encouraged  by  Gen  Carlton,    as 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


121 


useful  to  the  army  in  many  particulars,  but  their 
cruel  and  barbarous  custom  of  scalping^^  niust  be 
shocking  to  an  European  ;  though  practised  on  our 
enemies.  They  walked  freely  thro,  our  camp  and 
came  into  our  tents  without  the  least  ceremony, 
wanting  brandy  or  rum,  for  which  they  would  do  any- 
thing, as  their  greatest  pleasure  is  in  getting  beastly 
intoxicated.  Their  manner  of  dancing  the  war 
dance  is  curious  and  shocking,  being  naked  and 
painted  in  a  most  frightful  manner.  When  they 
give  the  war  whoop  or  yell,  (which  is  a  signal  for 
engaging)  they  appear  more  like  infernals,  than  of 
the  human  kind  ;  but  more  of  them  hereafter.  The 
weather  was  then  intensely  hot,  scarce  bearable  in  a 

5*  We  are  told  that  the  torture  of  prisoners  had  its  origin 
with  the  Iroquois,  and  was  adopted  by  other  Indian  tribes 
throughout  America ;  but  the  practice  was  world-wide  be- 
fore America  was  discovered.  The  fearful  accounts  in  the 
relations  of  the  Jesuits  of  the  tortures  inflicted  upon  their 
captives  by  the  savages,  find  an  almost  exact  parallel  in 
Maccabees,  where  Antiochus  not  only  mutilates  and  burns, 
but  scalps  his  victims.  Scalping  was  also  common  among 
the  Scythians.  "  The  modern  scalping-knife,"  says  Catlin, 
"  is  of  civilized  manufacture,  made  expressly  for  Indian  use, 
and  carried  into  the  Indian  country  by  thousands.  His 
untutored  mind  has  not  been  ingenious  enough  to  design 
or  execute  any  thing  so  savage  or  destructive  as  these 
civilized  refinements  in  Indian  barbarity.  If  I  should  ever 
cross  the  Atlantic  with  my  collection,  a  curious  enigma 
would  be  solved  for  the  English  people  who  may  inquire 
for  a  scalping-knife,  when  they  find  that  every  one  in 
my  collection  bears  on  its  blade  the  impress  G.  R." 
Vide  2  Maccabees  7,  pp.  3-20;  Moeurs  des  Sauvages 
(Lafitau),  vol.  2,  p.  287;  American  Indians  (Catlin),  vol.  i, 
p.  236. 

16 


I 


■> 


122 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


camp,  where  the  tents  rather  increased  than  dimin- 
ished it,  and  the  great  number  of  men  in  so  small  a 
space  made  it  very  disagreeable,  though  we  all  went 
as  thinly  clothed  as  possible,  wearing  large  loose 
trousers  to  prevent  the  bite  of  the  moscheto,  a  small 
fly  which  was  then  very  troublesome.  Our  men  in 
general  were  healthy,  and  not  much  troubled  with 
fevers  and  fluxes,  so  common  when  encamped  in  a 
warm  climate,  and  lying  nights  on  the  ground  under 
heavy  dew.  The  tree  spruce,  which  grows  there  in 
great  plenty,  as  indeed  in  most  parts  of  America,  is 
an  excellent  antiscorbutic,  and  when  made  into  beer 
is  far  from  a  disagreeable  flavour.  The  Canadians  in 
general  are  a  very  happy  set  of  people.  They  pos- 
sess all  the  vivacity  of  their  ancestors,  the  French, 
and  in  the  country  appear  on  an  equal  footing ;  their 
noblesse  choosing  mostly  to  reside  in  Montreal  or 
Quebec,  both  good  towns  and  many  English  settled 
there.  It  would  be  the  greatest  presumption  in  me 
to  attempt  a  description  of  customs,  manners, 

curiosities,  trade  &''  of  T  i.     For  such  I  must 

refer    the   reader  to  n".  abler  hands    who  have 

more  fully  expatiated  on  them  than  I  could  pretend 
to  do  • 

^^    Lieut  Frazier^^  9  reg*  and  lieu*  Scott'^  24  regt 


22' 


were  sent  on  a  party  of  observation  by  gen  Frazier 

^Alexander   Eraser   was   a   nephew  of   General   Simon 
Fraser,  and  had  served  in  the  Ninth  P^egiment  of  Infantry 

^  Thomas    Scott   was   commissioned   an   ensign    in   the 
Twenty  ♦'"  a rth  Foot  May  20,  1761,  and  served  in  Germany 


»  -d 


^-I*- 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


123 


to  discover  if  possible  what  the  enemy  were  about 
on  the  lake.  They  had  12  regulars  and  about 
30  Indians  in  cannoes.  The  bark  cannoes  are  the 
best  and  will  paddle  very  swift.     They  are  made  in 

for  ten  years,  having  been  commissioned  a  lieutenant  Octo- 
ber 25,  1766.  He  was  made  a  captain-lieutenant  May  13, 
1776,  on  which  date  General  Carleton,  in  an  order,  directed 
him  to  report  to  General  B.irgoyne,  "  in  order  to  receive  his 
commands  relative  to  the  assembling  of  the  Indians,"  and  it 
appears  that  he  was  placed  in  command  of  a  body  of  these 
blood-thirsty  savages,  whom  he  found  it  no  easy  matter  to 
control.  We  are  told  that  on  a  certain  occasion,  having 
friends  to  dine,  the  Indians  of  his  command  unceremoniously 
came  into  the  room  where  he  was  entertaining  his  guests  and 
insisted  upon  drinking  with  them.  He  at  first  prevailed 
upon  them  to  retire  by  giving  them  a  bottle  of  rum,  but 
they  soon  returned,  under  pretense  of  having  business  with 
him,  and  grew  so  troublesome  that  he  was  obliged  to  break 
up  his  entertainment.  Having  been  dispatched  to  Canada 
before  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  he  escaped  captivity  with 
his  fellow  soldiers.  He  was  transferred  to  the  Thirty-fourth 
Foot  November  11,  1776;  was  made  major  in  the  army 
November  18,  1790;  lieutenant-colonel  March  i,  1794,  and 
of  the  Forty-fifth  Foot,  September  i,  179I),  and  shortly  after 
disappears  from  the  army  lists.  Vide  British  Army  Lists, 
in  loco ;  Letters  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  1776-78,  vol.  i,  p.  482  ; 
Travels  Through  the  Interior  Parts  of  America,  vol.  I, 
pp.  214-19. 


the  following  year,  and  later  at  Gibraltar.  He  was  advanced 
to  a  lieutenancy  June  7,  1765.  He  served  through  this  and 
the  subsequent  campaign  with  distinction,  and  was  made  a 
captain-lieutenant  July  14,  1777.  He  was  intrusted  by 
Burgoyne,  after  the  terrible  battle  at  Freeman's  Farm,  with 
the  dangerous  service  of  conveying  dispatches  through  the 
American  lines  to  General  Clinton,  -'•^ich  would  subject 
him  to  certain  death  if  discovered.  K..  has  left  a  journal  of 
his  adventures  upon  this  occasion.     After  eleven  days,  in 


124 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


the  following  manner :  the  bark  which  is  very  thin, 
they  lay  on  flat  ribs  mostly  made  of  cedar.  These 
ribs  are  confined  their  whole  length  by  small  cross 
bars  which  separate  the  seats  of  t^he  cannoe.  Two 
main  pieces  of  the  same  wood,  to  which  these  little 

which  he  encountered  hardship  and  peril,  he  reached  Clin- 
ton just  after  he  had  captured  Fort  Montgomery,  and 
delivered  his  dispatches.  On  the  next  day  he  set  out  on  his 
return  to  the  imperiled  army  of  Burgoyne,  and,  after  several 
days,  making  his  way  through  woods  and  marshes,  he  heard 
rumors  of  Burgoyne's  capitulation,  and  found  it  impossible 
to  get  through  the  American  lines.  He  therefore  turned 
back  and  was  fortunate  enough  to  reach  Clinton's  fleet  in 
safety.  He  shortly  after  found  his  way  to  Canada,  and  on 
October  8th  was  appointed  captain  in  the  Fifty-third  Regi- 
ment, a  portion  of  which  had  been  left  by  Burgoyne  to 
garrison  Ticonderoga.  He  served  with  marked  ability  in 
Canada,  returning  to  England  in  1788.  After  severe  service 
on  the  continent,  in  which  he  participated  in  many  battles, 
he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major  November  13,  1793, 
and  on  the  27th  of  October,  1794,  lieutenant-colonel  of  the 
Ninety-fourth  Regiment  by  purchase,  and,  in  1796,  was 
adjutant-general  to  the  forces  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
During  the  year  1799  he  was  in  command  of  a  native  brigade 
in  India,  and  participated  in  the  taking  of  Seringapatam. 
On  January  i,  1801,  having  returned  to  England  the  previ- 
ous year  broken  in  health  by  severe  and  almost  constant 
service  for  forty  years,  he  was  made  colonel  by  brevet,  and 
assigned  to  the  recruiting  service.  On  August  10,  1804,  h^ 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general,  and  April 
25,  1808,  major-general  on  the  North  Britain  staff,  in  which 
position  he  served  until  June  4,  181 3,  when  he  received  his 
last  appointment  of  lieutenant-general  in  the  army,  a  posi- 
tion which  he  had  earned  by  service  of  the  most  arduous 
kind  performed  with  unusual  judgment  and  zeal.  He  died 
in  1 8 14.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco  ;  Captain  Scott's 
Journal,  quoted  by  Fonblanque,  pp.  287-90;  Burgoyne's 
Orderly  Book,  pp.  53-55. 


I 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


125 


bars  are  sewed,  strengthen  the  whole  machine. 
Between  the  ribs  and  the  bark  they  thrust  little 
pieces  of  cedar  which  are  thinner  still  than  the  ribs, 
and  which  help  to  strengthen  the  cannoe,  the  two 
ends  of  which  rise  by  degrees  and  insensibly  end  in 
sharp  points  that  turn  inwards.  These  two  ends  are 
exactly  alike,  so  that  to  change  their  course  and  turn 
back,  the  canoemen  need  only  change  hands.  He 
who  is  behind,  steers  with  his  oar,  working  continu- 
ally, and  the  greatest  occupation  of  him  who  is  for- 
ward, is  to  take  care  that  the  cannoe  touches  nothing 
to  burst  it.  They  sit  or  kneel  on  the  bottom,  and 
their  oars  are  paddles  of  5  or  6  feet  long,  com- 
monly of  maple  ;  but  when  they  go  against  a  current 
that  is  pretty  strong,  they  must  use  a  pole  and  stand 
upright.  One  must  have  a  good  deal  of  practice  to 
preserve  a  ballance  in  this  exercise,  for  nothing  is 
lighter  and,  of  consequence,  easier  to  overset  than 
these  cannoes,  the  greatest  of  which,  with  their  load- 
ing does  not  draw  more  than  half  a  foot  of  water, 
and  will  carry  12  men,  two  upon  a  seat,  and  4000 
pounds  weight.  The  smallest  of  these  will  carry 
a  sail,  and  with  a  good  wind  can  make  20  leagues 
in  a  day.  Without  sails  they  must  be  good 
canoemen  to  make  12  leagues  in  a  dead  water. — 
About  20  miles  from  St  John's  near  the  Isle  aux- 
Noix — island  of  nuts  —  they  fell  in  with  a  party 
of  the  enemy,  and,  after  some  fireing.  brought 
them  to  us  prisoners,  with  the  loss  only  of  'one 
Indian  and  a  few  wounded.     The  captains  name  was 


B£^a-iM.i!^5 


H1MBWBII.L  J  J jii  jlkM 


•Mm 


126 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


Wilson, ^^   who   informed  us  they   were  very  strong 
at  Grown    Point^^  and   Ticonderoga,'°°   both  places 

°^  James  Armstrong  Wilson,  son  of  Thomas  Wilson  and 
Jean  Armstrong,  was  born  in  1752  in  the  Cumberland  valley, 
and  came  from  warlike  sock,  some  of  his  ancestors  having 
served  as  officers  in  the  I.ench  and  Indian  wars.  When  the 
Revolution  opened,  he  raised  a  company  of  which  he  was 
commissioned  captain  January  9,  1776.  This  company  was 
included  as  number  five  in  Colonel  William  Irvine's,  or  the 
Sixth  Pennsylvania  Regiment.  He  had  command  of  a  party 
of  thirty  men,  and  was  on  a  reconnoissance,  when  without 
exercising  sufficient  prudence,  he  penetrated  to  the  river 
Sorel,  where  he  encountered  the  British  and  Indians,  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Craig.  Wilson's  men  fought  so 
well  as  to  excite  the  admiration  of  their  foes.  Two  men  on 
each  side  lost  their  lives;  one  of  the  British  infantry  being 
mortally  wounded,  and  one  of  their  Indian  allies  killed;  and 
on  the  American  side,  likewise,  one  man  was  killed  and 
another  mortally  wounded.  After  his  release  from  captivity 
he  returned  to  his  home  near  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  where 
he  remained  until  his  exchange  was  effected.  He  was  sub- 
sequently commissioned  a  major  in  one  of  the  regiments  of 
the  Pennsylvania  line,  then  being  organized,  but  owing  to 
disability  caused  by  exposure  in  the  Canadian  campaign  he 
was  compelled  to  retire  from  service.  He  continued  in  fail- 
ing health  until  March  17,  1783,  when  he  died,  in  the  thirty- 


^  Crown  Point  is  on  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Champlain, 
about  ninety  miles  north  of  Albany.  On  the  peninsula, 
which  is  nearly  a  mile  in  width,  the  French  built  a  fort  in 
1 73 1,  which  they  named  Fort  St.  Frederic,  in  honor  of 
Frederic   Maurepas,  the  secretary   of    state  at  that  time. 


100  Ticonderoga,  or  Cheonderoga  (brawling  waters)  as  the 
Indians  called  it,  a  promontory  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  George, 
has  been  the  scene  of  many  battles,  and  its  soil  has  been 
often  enriched  with  human  blood.  There  can  be  but  little 
doubt  that  on  this  historic  spot  occurred  the  battle  which 
Champlain  so  graphically  describes  as  having  taken  place 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


127 


of  great  strength  by  nature,  and  neither  men 
nor  cannon  wanting  to  make  them  more  so ;  also 
their  force  on  the  lake  was  great  and  much  superior, 

sixth  year  of  his  age.  The  Carlisle  Gazette  thus  spoke  of 
him :  "  The  many  virtues  of  this  good  and  amiable  man 
endeared  him  in  a  particular  manner  to  all  who  knew  him. 
In  him  his  country  has  lost  a  disinterested  and  inflexible 
patriot."  Major  Wilson  married  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Captain  Robert  Miller  of  the  Revolution,  who,  with  several 
children,  survived  him. 

I  am  indebted  for  important  facts  in  this  note  to  the  kind- 
ness of  Dr.  W.  H.  Egle,  of  Harrisburg,  State  Librarian  of 
the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania. 


In  1759  this  fort  was  captured  by  the  British  and  Provin- 
cials, under  General  Amherst,  and  was  taken  from  them  by 
the  Americans,  under  command  of  Colonel  Seth  Warner,  in 
May,  1775,  there  being  at  this  time  a  garrison  of  but  twelve 
men  in  the  fort. 


between  the  Iroquois  and  the  Hurons,  in  which  he  took  part 
so  unwarrantably  in  the  summer  of  1609.  From  immemorial 
time  it  had  served  as  the  gateway  between  the  vast  tribal 
regions  of  the  souljji  and  those  of  the  north.  Here,  so  well 
suited  was  the  place  for  a  defensive  post,  MontCalm,  in  1756, 
built  his  fort,  and,  with  "  the  poet's  tongue  of  baptismal 
flame,"  called  it  Carillon,  on  account  of  the  music  of  the 
waterfall  near  by,  which  reminded  him  of  a  chime  of  bells. 
But  the  sweet  voice  of  the  waterfall  was  drowned  by  the 
harsh  din  of  battle  in  1758,  between  the  English  and  French. 
In  this  bMtle,  the  English  under  Abercrombie  were  defeated. 
The  next  year  Amherst  laid  siege  to  and  captured  it.  For 
sixteen  years  it  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  English, 
when  Ethan  Allen,  in  1775,  took  it  from  the  English,  who 
retook  it  in  1777,  but  were  soon  forced  to  part  with  it.  In 
1778  it  was  again  taken  by  General  Haldeman,  but  was  soon 
abandoned  to  the  Americans.  Vide  Champlain's  Voyages, 
Prince  Society,  vol.  2,  p.  223 ;  Hinton's  Hist.  U.  S.,  vol.  i, 
pp.  172,  174,  231  et  passim. 


128 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


h 


he  believed,  to  any  we  could  bring  against  them  that 
year.  The  fort  of  St  Johns,  at  the  time  it  was  at- 
tacked by  the  enemy,  was  garrisoned  by  a  few  com- 
panies of  the  26^''  regmt.  They  stood  out  some  days 
but  were  obliged  to  surrender  to  superior  numbers. 
The  remainder  of  the  regiment,  with  part  of  the  f'°- 
were  at  Chamble,  where  they  made  but  a  very  short 
stand  ;  less  than  even  the  enemy  imagined.  There 
they  took  a  great  store  of  powder  which  might  have 
been  easily  destroyed,  and  turned  out  the  means  of 
their  rapid  movement  toward  Quebec,  the  capital. — "' 
25^^  As  brig,  gen  Gordon,'"^  who  commanded  the 
first  brigade  of  British,  was  rideing  from  St  Johns 

'"^  The  following  account  of  the  capture  of  Fort  St.  John 
is  from  Hadden's  Journal,  pp.  2  and  3  :  "The-F<?r/  at  Cham- 
blee  or  rather  the  Shell  of  a  large  square  House  loop  holed,  is 
an  ancient  structure  raised  about  50  Feet,  totaly  of  Masonry 
and  intended  as  a  defence  against  the  sudden  attack  of  the 
Savages,  It  was  surrender'd  by  Major  Stopford  (last  year) 
to  the  Rebels  (who  brought  i  Gun  &  a  Horse  load  of  powder 
against  it)  after  firing  a  few  Shot:  and  he  neglected  to 
destroy  a  large  quantity  of  powder  then  in  the  Fort,  they 
were  enabled  to  return  and  attack  Fort  St.  Johns.  The 
powder  might  have  been  thrown  into  the  Rapids  as  the  Fort 
is  immediately  above  them.  There  was  also  a  Well  in  the 
Fort.  Timidity  and  Folly  in  this  instance  seem  to  have 
been  the  cause  of  ail  the  succeeding  misfortunes  in  Canada. 
I  did  not  learn  that  any  Men  were  Killed  or  wounded  in 
the  Fort,  and  it  certainly  might  have  held  out  long  enough 
for  the  Enemy  to  have  expended  all  their  ammunition,  in 
which  case  they  must  have  abandoned  their  enterprise.  On 
the  contrary  with  the  above  supplies  they  besieged  and  took 
St.  Johns  in  about  Six  weeks." 

102  Patrick  Gordon  was  commissioned  in  the  First  Foot  as 
captain,  or  first  lieutenant,  January  22,  1755,  and  promoted 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


129 


n 


to  Lapraire,  (about  4  leagues)  he  was  shot  by  a 
scouting  party  of  the  enemy  from  the  wood;  two 
balls  took  place  in  his  shoulder,  of  which  he  died 
the   following  day,  and   in  a  general  order  to  the 


to  the  captaincy  of  the  second  battalion  of  the  same  regi- 
ment, February  16,  1756,  and  major  of  the  One  Hundred 
and  Eighth  Foot,  C  .ober  17,  1761.  He  was  raised  to  the 
lieutenant-colonelcy  ol  the  Twenty-ninth  Foot  previous  to 
the  departu "^  of  th  troops  from  Ireland,  and  soon  after  his 
arrival  in  Canada  /as  further  rewarded  by  having  bestowed 
upon  him  a  briga'  xer-general's  commission.  He  died  on  the 
first  of  August,  ?  nd  was  buried  at  Montreal  on  the  third.  Had- 
den  says :  "  About  the  2nd  of  August  Brigadier  Gen'l  Gordon 
was  wounded  and  died.  Lord  Petersham  narrowly  escaped 
the  same  fate.  The  distance  between  St.  Johns  and  Montreal^ 
passing  by  Chamblee,  is  about  30  miles ;  on  this  Road  the 
Army  lay  encamped  or  Canton'd,  but  there  was  a  shorter 
route  by  La  Prairie^  and  this  tho.  unguarded,  was  thought 
secure  from  the  distance  &  panic  of  the  Enemy,  and  Officers 
constantly  travell'd  it  without  escorts.  The  Rebels  having 
information  of  this  circumstance  and  wishing  for  intelligence, 
detached  one  Whitcomb,  with  four  others  to  waylay  this 
Road,  and  they  succeeded  but  too  well.  Whitcomb  shot 
Gen'l  Gordon  when  he  might  have  taken  him  Prisoner.  The 
day  following  he  seized  &  carried  off,  the  Qr.  Master  of  the 
29th  Reg't  and  a  Noncommissioned  Officer,  who  knew  noth- 
ing of  the  late  accident.  Whitcomb  returned  by  the  edge  of 
Lake  Champlain  and  got  safe  into  Tyconderoga  with  his  Pris- 
oners tho.  pursued  by  the  Savages."  Whitcomb's  own  account 
of  this  transaction  is  as  follows  :  "  Twenty  third,  early  in  the 
morning,  I  returned  to  my  former  place  of  abode,  stood  there 
the  whole  day,  saw  twenty  three  carts  laden  with  barrels  and 
tents  going  to  St.  Johns.  Twenty  fourth,  staid  at  the  same 
place  till  about  twelve  o'clock  then  fired  on  an  officer,  and 
moved  immediately  into  Chambly  road ;  being  discbvered, 
retreated  back  into  the  woods  and  staid  till  night ;  then 
taking  the  road  and  passing  the  guards  till  I  came  below 
Chambly,  finding  mj^self  discovered,  was  obliged  to  conceal 

17 


130 


Lieutena7it  Digbys  Journal, 


army  from  his  excellency,  general  Carlton,  after 
having  expatiated  on  such  a  cowardly  and  cruel 
manner  of  carrying  on  the  war ;  he  describes  the 
dress,  person  Sc''  of  the  scout,  their  captain,  called 


myself  in  the  brush  till  dark."  The  next  day  he  completed 
his  escape.  Anburey  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the 
affair,  and  says  that  after  being  wounded,  **  The  General 
immediately  rode  as  fast  as  he  could  to  the  camp  at  St. 
Johns,  which  he  had  but  just  reached,  when  with  the  loss  of 
blood  and  fatigue,  he  fell  from  his  horse  ;  some  soldiers  took 
him  up  and  carried  him  to  the  hospital,  where,  after  his 
wound  was  dressed,  and  he  was  a  little  at  ease,  he  related 
the  circumstance,  which  being  immediately  made  known  to 
General  Carleton,  a  party  of  Indians  were  sent  out  to  scour 
the  woods,  and  search  for  Whitcomb,  but  in  vain,  as  he 
hastened  back  to  Ticonderoga.  General  Carleton,  however, 
imagining  he  might  be  lurking  about  the  woods,  or  secreted 
in  the  house  of  some  disaffected  Canadian,  issued  out  a 
proclamation  among  the  inhabitants,  offering  a  reward  of 
fifty  guineas  to  any  one  that  would  bring  Whitcomb,  alive 
or  dead,  to  the  camp.  A  few  days  after  this,  General  Gordon 
died  of  his  wound,  in  whose  death  we  sincerely  lamented 
the  loss  of  a  brave  and  experienced  officer.  When  Whit- 
comb returned  to  Ticonderoga,  and  informed  the  General 
who  commanded  there,  that  although  he  could  not  take  an 
officer  prisoner,  he  believed  he  had  mortally  wounded  one, 
the  General  expressed  his  disapprobation  in  the  highest 
terms,  and  was  so  much  displeased  at  the  transaction,  that 
Whitcomb,  in  order  to  effect  a  reconciliation,  offered  his 
services  to  go  again,  professing  he  would  forfeit  his  life,  if  he 
did  not  return  with  a  prisoner."  We  shall  see  how  well  he 
performed  this  promise.  General  James  Wilkinson  calls 
Whitcomb  an  assassin,  and  doubtless  states  correctly  that 
the  shooting  of  Gordon  was  looked  upon  by  the  Americans 
as  a  criminal  act.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco  ;  Hadden's 
Journal,  pp.  4-6;  Ap:ierican  Archives,  Fifth  Series,  vol.  i,  p. 
828;  Travels  Through  the  Interior  Parts  of  America,  vol.  i, 
p.  256  ;  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  p.  69. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


131 


^1 

1 

'4 


Whitcomb,'°3  a  famous  ranger  from  Connecticut, 
wishing,  should  he  be  taken,  he  might  be  spared  for 
the  hands  of  the  hangman,  a  soldier's  death  being 
too  honourable  for  such  a  wretch. 


J°'  Lieutenant  Benjamin  Whitcomb  was  one  of  the  most 
active  and  daring  scouts  on  the  American  side.  For  his 
services  he  was,  shortly  after  this  date,  made  a  major.  After 
shooting  General  Gordon  and  narrowly  escaping  capture  by 
the  troops  and  Indians  sent  in  pursuit  of  him,  which  would 
have  resulted  in  his  immediate  execution,  being  stung  by 
the  reproaches  of  some  of  his  companions  in  arms,  who  re- 
garded the  shooting  of  Gordon  a  criminal  act,  he  immedi- 
ately returned  to  the  place  where  the  shooting  took  place, 
though  it  seemed  certain  death  for  him  so  to  do,  avowing  it 
as  his  purpose  to  capture  an  officer  or  lose  his  life  in  the 
attempt.  The  result  was  the  capture  by  him  of  the  quarter- 
master, Alexander  Saunders,  and  a  non-commissioned  officer, 
both  of  whom  he  carried  prisoners  safely  to  Ticonderoga.  An- 
burey  relates  the  particulars  of  the  affair:  "  The  regiment  of 
which  our  friend  S[aunders]  is  Quarter-master,  having  occa- 
sion for  some  stores  from  Montreal,  he  was  going  from  the 
camp  at  St.  John's  to  procure  them ;  he  was  advised  not  to 
go  this  road,  but  by  way  of  Chamblee,  on  account  of  the 
late  accident ;  but  you  know  him  to  be  a  man  of  great 
bravery  and  personal  courage,  joined  with  uncommon 
strength  ;  resolving  not  to  go  so  many  miles  out  of  his 
road  for  any  Whitcomb  whatever,  he  jocosely  added  that  he 
should  be  very  glad  to  meet  with  him,  as  he  was  sure  he 
should  get  the  reward  ;  in  this,  however,  he  was  greatly 
mistaken,  his  reward  being  no  other  than  that  of  being 
taken  prisoner  himself.  Previous  to  his  setting  out  he  took 
every  precaution,  having  not  only  loaded  his  fusee,  but 
charged  a  brace  of  pistols  ;  when  he  came  near  to  the 
woods  I  have  already  described,  he  was  very  cautious,  but 
in  an  instant  Whitcomb  and  the  two  men  he  had  with  him 
sprung  from  behind  a  thick  brush  and  seized  him  before  he 
could  make  the  least  resistance  ;  they  then  took  from  him 
his  fusee  and  pistols,  tied  his  arms  behind  him  with  ropes, 


, 


132 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


29'\  By  a  flag  of  truce,  the  general  sent  all  the 
prisoners  taken  at  Trois  Rivieres  on  parole  to  their 
respective  homes,  relying  on  their  word  of  not  bear- 
ing arms  till  duly  exchanged  ;  how  they  attended  to 
their  parole  I  am  not  a  judge,  though  many  were  of 

and  blindfolded  him.  It  was  three  days  before  they  reached 
the  canoe  that  had  been  concealed,  during  which  time  they 
had  but  very  scanty  fare  ;  a  few  hard  biscuits  served  to  allay 
their  hunger,  while  the  fruit  of  the  woods  was  a  luxury ! 
When  Whitcomb  had  marched  him  to  such  a  distance  as  he 
thought  he  could  not  make  his  escape,  were  he  at  liberty, 
through  fear  of  losing  himself,  for  the  greater  ease  on  his 
own  part  and  to  facilitate  their  march,  they  untied  his  hands 
and  took  the  cloth  from  his  eyes. — At  night,  when  they  had 
partaken  of  their  scanty  pittance,  two  out  of  the  three  used 
to  sleep  whilst  the  other  kept  watch.  The  first  night  he 
slept  through  fatigue ;  on  the  second,  as  you  may  naturally 
suppose,  from  his  great  anxiety  of  mind,  he  could  not  close 
his  eyes,  in  the  middle  of  which  an  opportunity  occurred 
whereby  he  could  have  effected  his  escape,  for  the  man  whose 
watch  it  was,  fell  fast  asleep.  He  has  since  told  me  how  his 
mind  wavered  for  a  length  of  time,  what  measures  to  pursue  ; 
he  could  not  bear  the  idea  of  putting  them  to  death,  though' 
justified  by  the  rules  of  war;  if  he  escaped  from  them,  they 
might  in  all  probability  retake  and  ill-treat  him.  The  great 
hazard  of  all,  which  determined  him  to  abide  by  his  fate, 
was,  that  by  being  so  many  miles  in  a  tract  of  wood,  where 
he  could  not  tell  what  direction  to  take  (having  been  blind- 
folded when  he  entered  it),  he  might  possibly  wander  up  and 
down  till  he  perished  with  hunger.  In  this  restless  state  he 
remained  till  daybreak,  when  they  resumed  their  march,  and 
in  the  evening  came  to  the  creek  where  the  canoe  was  con- 
cealed." The  next  morning  Whitcomb  reached  Ticonde- 
roga  with  his  prisoners.  The  shooting  of  Gordon  stirred  up 
much  bitterness  of  feeling  against  the  Americans,  and  when 
a  flag  of  truce  was  sent  by  them  to  the  British  the  day  after 
Gordon's  death.  General  Carleton  issued  the  following 
proclamation : 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Jottrnal. 


133 


opinion  it  would  sooh  be  forgot  on  their  getting  clear 
from  Canada. '"'^ 


Head  Quarters,  Quebec,  Aug*-.  4"',  1776. 

"The  commanding  Officers  of  Corps  will  take  especial 
care  that  every  one  under  their  command  be  informed,  that 
Letters^  oi"  messages  from  Rebels,  Traitors  in  Arms  against 
the  King,  Rioters,  disturbers  of  the  public  Peace,  Plunderers, 
Robbers,  Assassins,  or  Murderers,  are  on  no  occasion  to  be 
admitted :  That  shou'd  emmissaries  from  such  lawless  Men 
again  presume  to  approach  the  Army,  whether  under  the 
name  of  Flag  of  Truce  Men  or  Ambassadors  except  when 
they  come  to  implore  the  King's  mercy,  their  persons  shall 
be  immediately  seized  and  committed  to  close  confinement 
to  be  proceeded  against  as  the  Law  directs  :  Their  Papers  & 
Letters  for  whomsoever  directed  (even  this  Com'r  in  Chief) 
are  to  be  deliver'd  to  the  Provost  Martial,  that  unread  and 
unopen'd  they  may  be  burnt  by  the  hands  of  the  common 
Hangman." 

The  following  is  extracted  from  an  order  of  General  Phil- 
lips, issued  from  Chamblee  the  26th  of  July.  After  speak- 
ing of  the  shooting  of  General  Gordon,  he  says : 

"  The  Person  who  commanded  the  Party  which  attacked 
General  Gordon  is  Whitcomb  of  Connecticut  calling  himself 
Lieutenant.  He  is  between  30  and  40  years  of  Age,  to 
appearance  near  6  feet  high,  rather  thin  than  otherwise, 
light  brown  Hair  tied  behind,  rough  Face,  not  sure  whether 
occasioned  by  the  small  Pox  or  not.  He  wears  a  kind 
of  under  Jacket  without  Sleeves,  slash  Pockets,  leather 
Breeches,  grey  woolen  or  yarn  Stockings,  and  Shoes.     Hat 


^°*  The  kindness  of  General  Carleton  to  his  prisoners  was 
never  forgotten  by  them.  Henry,  one  of  those  released 
prisoners  whom  Digby  here  alludes  to,  calls  him  the 
"  Amiable,  it  might  be  said,,  admirable  Major  Carleton." 
After  their  parole,  a  copy  of  which  may  be  seen  in  Henry's 
account,  he  says  :  "  Captain  Prentis  procured  me  permission 
from  government  with  a  few  friends  to  traverse  the  city. 
An  officer  of  the  garrison  attended  us.     Our  first  desire  was 


134 


Lieutenant  Digbys  JotirnaL 


I 


August  i4'\  Our  corps  moved  up  to  the  Isle 
Aux  Noix,'°5  in  such  battows  as  were  ready,  by  which 
the  first  brigade  took  up  our  ground  at  St  John's, 
and  was,  of  course,  a  general  movement  to  the  army. 
The  island  is  about  one  mile  long  and  half  a  one  In 
breadth,  mostly  covered  with  wood,  which  in  a  short 
time  we  cleared  for  our  camp,  which  was  badly  situ- 
ated,  being  in  a  swamp,   and   much    troubled  with 

flapped,  a  gold  Cord  tied  round  it.     He  had  a  Forelock, 
Blanket,  Pouch  and   Powder  Horn. 

**  Should  he,  or  any  of  his  Party,  of  the  same  nature, 
come  within  reach  of  our  Men,  it  is  hoped  they  will  not 
honor  them  with  Soldier's  Deaths  if  they  can  possibly  avoid 
it,  but  reserve  them  for  due  Punishment,  which  can  only  be 
effected  by  the  Hangman."  Vide  Hadden's  Journal  and 
Orderly  Books,  pp.  7,  8,  237 ;  Travels  Through  the  Interior 
Parts  of  America,  vol.  i,  pp.  258-263. 


to  see  the  grave  of  our  general  and  those  of  his  aids,  as  well 
as  those  of  the  beloved  Hendricks  and  Humphreys.  The 
graves  were  within  a  small  place  of  interment,  neatly  walled 
with  stone.  The  coffins  of  Montgomery,  Cheeseman  and 
McPherson  were  well  arranged  side  by  side.  Those  of 
Hendricks,  Humphreys,  Cooper,  etc.,  were  arranged  in  the 
south  side  of  the  inclosure ;  but,  as  the  burials  of  these 
heroes  took  place  in  a  dreary  winter,  and  the  earth  im- 
penetrable, there  was  but  little  soil  on  the  coffins,  the  snow 
and  ice,  which  had  been  the  principal  covering,  being  now 
dissolved.  The  foot  of  the  general's  coffin  was  exposed  to 
the  air  and  view.  The  coffin  was  well  formed  of  fir  plank. 
Captain  Prentis  assured  me  that  the  graves  should  be 
deepened  and  the  bodies  duly  deposited,  for  he  also  knew 
Montgomery  as  a  fellow  soldier  and  lamented  his  untimely 
fate.      Vide  Arnold's  Campaign  Against  Quebec,  p.  170. 


^"'^  Isle-aux-Noix,  situated   at    the   northern  extremity  of 
Lake   Champlain   and   commanding   the   entrance   to   the 


I 


oH 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


135 


snakes  &*'  The  old  lines  thrown,  up  by  the  French, 
[in  the]  last  war,  when  they  expected  General  Am- 
herst'°^  from  Crown  Point,  were  mostly  out  of  repair 
and  cost  us  some  fatigue  to  put  them  in  a  state 
of  defence,  as  also  to  throw  up  others  towards  the 
enemy.  I  cannot  here  omit  inserting  an  epitaph 
wrote  by  the  enemy  on  the  grave  of  a  captain,  lieu- 
tenant and  two  privates,  who  were,  a  few  days  before 
their  main  body  sailed  from  the  .island,  and  a  little 
after  our  arrival  at  St  Johns,  scalped  by  some  of 
our  Indians,  after  having  surprised  them,  though  the 
most  positive  orders  to  the  contrary  were  given  by 
General  Burgoyne,  with  a  reward  offered  for  prison- 
Richelieu  or  Sorel,  was  so  named  by  Champlain  on  account 
of  the  abundance  of  nut  trees  found  growing  there  by  him. 
In  the  campaign  alluded  to  by  Digby,  the  fortification  of  the 
island  by  the  French  is  described  by  Sismondi,  and  seems  to 
be  of  sufficient  interest  to  reproduce  here.  He  says:  "  lis 
durent  ^vacuer  encore  la  position  de  Fort  Frederic  (Crown 
Point).  Toutefois  leur  commandant,  Burlamanque,  se  for- 
tifia  k  rile-aux-Noix,  ^  I'extremit^  du  Lac  Champlain ;  et 
comme  il  avoit  encore  sous  ses  ordres  trois  mille  cinq  cents 
hommes,  il  r^ussit  a  fermer  le  chemin  de  Quebec  au  Gen- 
eral Amherst,  et  k  I'empecher  de  seconder  I'attaque  du 
General  contre  cette  ville."  Vide  Histoire  des  Fran^ais, 
vol.  29,  ch.  54. 

^°®l.  Jeffery  Amherst  was  born  in  Kent,  January  29,  171 7, 
and  entered  the  army  at  the  early  age  of  fourteen  years. 
He  saw  active  service  on  the  continent  under  General 
Legineu,  upon  whose  staff  he  served,  and  by  his  ability  rose 
rapidly  in  rank.  In  1758  he  was  a  major-general,  and  in 
that  year  engaged  in  the  conquest  of  Canada,  aided  by  New 
England  troops,  who  entered  into  the  contest  with  enthusi- 
asm ;  indeed,  it  was  in  this  war  that  the  men  who  were  now 


136 


Lieutenant  Di^bys  Journal. 


ers  to  prevent  scalping.  The  following  was  wrote 
on  an  old  board  at  the  head  of  the  grave,  which  is 
no  bad  ruff  production,  and  I  wish  with  all  my 
heart  there  had  been  no  occasion  to  have  shewn  the 
author's  talents  on  such  a  melancholy  subject.  I 
shall  not  speak  of  the  horrid  cruelty  of  such  a  custom 
being  well  assured  the  reader's  heart  must  detest 
such  barbarity,  and  be  roused  against  the  cruel  sav- 
ages who  inflicted  [it],  though  on  our  enemies,  who 
still  are  our  fellow  creatures,  on  whom  the  rules  of 
war  even  among  the  most  imcivilized  nations  do  not 
justify  the  exertion  of  such  a  scene  of  torture. 

Beneath  this  humble  sod^ 
Lie        : 
Cap"  Adams,   Lieut-  Culbertson  &  2  privates  of 
the  2d   Pensilvanian  regiment. 
Not  Hirelings  but  Patriots 

Who  fell not  in  battle, 

but  unarmed, 
Who   were   barbarously  murdered   and   inhumanly 
scalped  by  the  emissaries  of  the  once  just  but 
now   abandoned   Kingdom   of   Britain. 
Sons  of  America  rest  in  quiet  here, 
Britannia  blush,  Burgoyne  let  fall  a  tear. 
And  tremble  Europe's  Sons  •'inith  savage  race 
Death  and  revenge  await  you  with  disgrace ^^ 


opposing  the  British  troops  in  their  attempt  to  subjugate 
them  were  trained  in  arms.  For  his  success  in  wresting 
Canada  from  the  French,  he  received  the  order  of  the  Bath. 
In  1763  he  was  made  governor  of  Virginia,  and  in  1770  of 
the  Isle  of  Guernsey.  In  1772  he  was  made  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  army,  and  in   1776  was  created  a  baron.     He 

^°^  Very  few  particulars  of  this  distressing  occurrence  have 
come  down  to  us.     Robert  Adams  was  the  son  of  Thomas 


¥'■ 


. '  \^k'j  «MM*t±Muka 


!      ?l 


t    i. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


137 


The  main  land  was  but  a  small  distance  from  us, 
it  scarce  there  deserves  the  name  of  a  lake,  it  being 

died,  after  a  most  brilliant  career,  August  3,  1787.  Vide 
British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  The  Conquest  of  Canada,  pp. 
230-277,  et  passim ;  History  of  the  United  States  (Hinton), 
Boston,  1834,  vol.  I,  Book  2;  History  of  Nova  Scotia 
(Haliburton),  Halifax,  1829,  vol.  i,  pp.  199-229. 

and  Katherine  Adams,  and  was  born  in  1745  in  what  was 
subsequently  Toboyne  township,  in  Cumberland  county, 
Pennsylvania.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Bouquet  expedition 
to  the  westward  in  1764,  and  when  the  Revolution  opened 
he  raised  a  company  of  "  Associators,"  which  formed  the 
second  company  of  Colonel  William  Irvine's  regiment,  of 
which  he  was  commissioned  captain,  January  9,  1776. 
Joseph  Culbertson  was  the  son  of  Alexander  and  Margaret 
Culbertson,  and  was  born  in  1753  in  the  Cumberland  Valley. 
His  .ancestors  came  from  the  North  of  Ireland  about  the 
year  1730,  subsequently  locating  about  seven  miles  from 
what  is  now  Chambersburg.  Owing  to  several  contiguous 
farms  being  owned  by  different  members  of  the  family,  the 
place  was  known  as  "Culbertson's  Row."  Joseph  was  an 
early  "  Associator,"  and  received  his  commission  as  ensign 
in  Captain  Wilson's  company,  January  9th,  the  same  day 
that  Adams  received  his.  He  had  two  brothers  in  the 
Pennsylvania  line,  Robert  and  Samuel,  both  officers.  It 
would  appear  that  Adams  and  Culbertson,  in  company  with 
several  other  officers  and  men,  on  the  21st  of  June,  crossed 
from  their  camp  at  Isle-aux-Noix  to  the  western  shore  of  the 
lake  for  the  prrpose  of  fishing,  and  not  supposing  any 
enemy  to  be  in  the  vicinity,  took  no  arms  with  them.  Near 
the  shore  w  the  house  of  a  Frenchman  who  sold  spruce 
beer  to  the  soldiers,  a  beverage  which  was  not  only  refresh- 
ing, but  supposed  to  possess  medicinal  virtues  and  very 
popular  at  this  time.  A  small  band  of  Indians,  in  which 
were  two  Canadians,  were  in  ambush  on  the  shore  of  the 
lake  watching  their  movements,  and  surprised  them  while 
they  were  stopping  at  the  Frenchman's  house  to  drink,  kill- 
ing Adams  and  Culbertson  and  two  of  their  companions, 

i8 


138 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


not  very  broad,  but  the  shore  is  such  a  swamp  and 
so  thick  with  wood,  that  you  can  scarce  land,  and 
those  unbounded  forests  quite  uninhabited,  except 
by  Indians  and  other  savage  beasts. 

30'^  For  some  days  past  we  had  the  most  severe 
and  constant  rain  ;  it  poured  through  all  our  tents 
and  almost  flooded  the  island  ;  yet  the  days  were 
very  hot  with  violent  bursts  of  thunder,  attended 
with  frequent  flashes  of  lightening.  The  idea  of 
service  to  those  who  have  not  had  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  any,  may  induce  them  to  believe  the  only 
hardship  a  soldier  endures  on  a  campaign  is  the 
danger  attending  an  action,  but  there  are  many  others, 
perhaps  not  so  dangerous,  yet,  in  my  opinion,  very 
near  as  disagreeable, —  remaining  out  whole  nights 
under  rain  and  almost  frozen  with  cold,  with  very 
little  covering,  perhaps  without  being  able  to  light  a 
fire  ;  fearing  the  enemy's  discovering  the  post,  and 

and,  with  the  exception  of  two  who  escaped,  carrying  the 
others  into  captivity.  The  men  thus  cruelly  murdered,  for 
they  had  no  arms  and  were  therefore  incapable  of  defense, 
were  scalped  and  mutilated  in  the  usual  barbarous  manner 
of  the  Indians.  As  soon  as  Colonels  Wayne  and  Hartley 
heard  of  the  affair,  they  started  in  pursuit  of  the  murderers, 
but  failed  to  capture  them.  They,  however,  destroyed  the 
house  and  mill  of  a  Tory  named  McDonald,  who  was  sup- 
posed to  have  furnished  information  to  the  savages.  This 
"  accident  "  Wilkinson  suggests,  caused  General  Sullivan  to 
evacuate  his  position  at  Isle-aux-Noix.  Vide  A  Letter  from 
Crown  Point,  American  Archives,  vol.  6,  pp.  1253,  1270; 
Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  p.  61.  I  am  indebted 
for  several  important  particulars  in  this  note  to  Dr.  Wm. 
H.  Egle  of  Harrisburg,  librarian  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Pennsylvania. 


>.^ 


r 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


139 


not  knowing  the  moment  of  an  attack  ;  but  always  in 
expectation  of  one ;  not  that  I  would  be  thought  to 
insinuate  from  this  a  preference  to  the  former, 
excepting  when  the  nature  of  the  service  required  it, 
and  visible  advantages  were  likely  to  flow  from  it. 
We  had  a  guard  about  4  miles  above  the  island, 
on  the  main  land,  where  there  were  great  flocks  of 
wolves.  During  the  night  we  could  hear  them  after 
a  deer  through  the  woods,  and  then  cry  something 
like  a  pack  of  hounds  in  full  chase.  They  often 
came  near  our  out  centries,  but  they  being  loaded, 
did  not  much  mind  them. 

Sep  2^.  I  went  on  duty  to  St  Johns,  and  was  pres- 
ent at  the  launching  of  the  Carlton  schooner.  She 
was  compleat  in  guns  ^^.  &^  and  the  command  of 
her  given  to  lieut.  Decars'°^  of  the  navy. — 

^^  James  Richard  Dacres,  who  was  now  put  in  command  of 
the  CarletoHy  was  born  in  February,  1749,  and  entered  the 
navy  at  the  early  age  of  thirteen  years.  He  was  a  lieuten- 
ant on  the  ship  which  bore  Burgoyne  to  Quebec.  In  the 
battle  which  followed  his  appointment  to  the  command  of 
the  Carleion,  he  was  severely  wounded  and  supposed  to  be 
dead ;  indeed,  he  was  about  to  be  consigned  to  the  waters 
of  the  lake,  when  a  brother  officer  interfered  and  his  life  was 
thereby  saved.  He  recovered  sufficiently  from  his  wounds 
to  be  the  bearer  of  dispatches  to  England  announcing  the 
particulars  of  the  engagement.  In  these  dispatches  his  gal- 
lantry was  highly  commended  by  Capt.  Pringle,  and  he  was 
soon  put  in  command  of  the  sloop- of-war  Ceres^  which  was 
subsequently  captured  by  the  French  frigate  Iphigenie.  He 
was  made  a  post-captain  September  13,  1780,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  many,  brilliant  naval  achievements  during  the  next 
few  years.  For  his  important  services  to  the  crown  he  was 
made  a  rear-admiral  of  the  Blue,  February  14,  1799,  of  the 


140 


Lieutenant  Digbys  JournaL 


'^^.  About  10  o'clock  at  night  an  alarm  was  given 
by  a  cannoe  full  of  Indians,  that  the  enemy  were 
bearing  down  upon  the  island  (the  wind  being  fair 
for  them)  with  6  or  7  schooners  &  sloops,  and  many 
battows  full  of  men,  on  which  General  Frazier  de- 
sired we  might  stand  to  our  arms  without  the  least 
noise  or  beating  of  drums  &  there  wait  their  arrival. 
Our  works  were  not  near  finished,  but  what  cannon 
we  had  were  immediately  drawn  up  to  the  embrasures 
to  play  on  them  while  landing.  Our  advanced  corps, 
which  was  all  the  force  we  had  on  the  island,  con- 
sisted of  about  1400  men  all  in  good  health  and 
spirits  and  well  prepared  to  give  them  a  warm  re- 
ception. An  express  was  directly  sent  down  in  a 
cannoe  to  Genl  Carlton  at  St  Johns,  acquainting  him 
with  the  above  particulars  and  stateing  the  strength 
of  the  island,  &^  &*".  I  shall  here  insert  general 
Frazier's  orders  to  us,  as  it  may  be  the  cause  of  the 
reader's  having  some  idea  of  the  island. 

Brigade  Orders. 
In  case  of  an  alarm,  the  Battallion  of  Grenadiers 
to  form  behind  the  lines  directly  in  their  front.    The 

White,  J:"nuary  i,  1801,  and  of  the  Red,  April  23,  1804,  and 
in  the  lati.r  year  was  put  in  command  of  the  Jamaica  station, 
where  he  remained  until  1808,  being  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  vice-admiral  of  the  White,  November  9,  1805.  He  died 
in  England,  January  6,  1801.  Vide  Royal  Naval  Biography 
(Marshall),  part  i,  vol.  2,  p.  29  ;  Universal  Magazine,  London, 
vol.  59,  pp.  270-2  ;  Ibid.,  vol.  62,  p.  274  ;  London  Chronicle, 
vol.  48,  p.  282;  Ibid.,  vol.  49,  pp.  40,  214;  Allen's  Battles 
British  Navy,  vol.  i,  pp.  391,  415  ;  Annual  Register  for  1799, 
1801,  1804. 


■MiW 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


141 


i 


light  Infantry  will  man  the  lines  In  their  front,  their 
left  towards  their  own  quarter  guard,  and  the  24'*" 
regiment  to  form  on  the  right  of  the  light  Infantry. 
The  officer  commanding  the  Grenadiers  to  detach  a 
subaltern  and  40  privates  to  assist  In  working  the 
long  1 2  pounders  and  howitzers  placed  to  guard  the 
west  passage  of  the  river.  The  officer  commanding 
the  Light  Infantry  to  send  one  captain,  one  subaltern 
and  60  privates  to  the  4  gun  battery  which  guards 
the  East  passage.  The  officer  commanding  the  24*^ 
regiment  will  send  a  subaltern  and  40  men  to  the 
bastion  In  which  the  4  six  pounders  are ;  these  de- 
tachments to  be  made  Immediately  on  hearing  an 
alarm.  The  whole  to  strike  their  tents  and  leave 
them  on  the  ground.  The  men  are  to  get  under 
arms  without  the  beating  of  drums  or  making  the 
least  noise ;  they  are  to  be  particularly  careful  not 
to  throw  away  their  ammunition  by  fireing  at  too 
great  a  distance.  Officers  will  be  very  attentive 
that  the  men  are  well  covered  by  the  works  from  the 
fire  of  shipping.  All  guards  without  the  lines,  to 
retire  to  the  Inside  on  the  appearance  of  shipping. 
The  guards  at  the  landing  place  to  remain,  and  to 
take  care  that  no  person  takes  a  battow  without 
permission.  The  serjeant  of  that  guard  will  like- 
wise take  charge  of  all  the  wooden  cannon,  and  to 
be  under  the  charge  of  the  centry.  A  non  commis- 
sioned officer  of  the  Artillery  to  be  at  the  store  for 
the  purpose  of  delivering  ammunition,  the  surjions 
to  take  post  there.     The  women  and  children  to  go 


142 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


immediately  to  the  northern  extremity  of  the  island, 
where  the  bullocks  are  to  be  drove.  The  general 
will  take  post  at  the  4  gun  battery  in  front  of  the 
light  Infantry.  An  orderly  officer  from  each  Battal- 
lion  to  attend  him  to  carry  orders.  The  Canadian 
labourers  to  be  divided  in  three  parts,  and  a  division 
to  be  placed  in  the  rear  of  each  battallion  with 
spades,  pick  axes  and  hand  barrows.  Artificers,  con- 
valescents, and  every  person  in  the  least  able  to  serve 
to  take  arms.  Captain  Monning's'°^  company  of 
Canadians  to  retire  to  Scot's  farm,  and  the  guard  be- 
hind Blury  river"°  to  advance  to  Livingston's  house ; 
these  posts  to  be  defended  to  the  last  extremity. 

During  the  night  we  rested  on  our  arms  expecting 
them  every  minute. 

4^^  About  6  in  the  morning,  we  very  distinctly 
heard  13  or  14  cannon  shot,  and  imagined  they 
were  fireing  on  a  small  guard  of  ours  up  the  river. 
Cap*"  Frazier  and  a  few  Indians  were  sent  out  to 
try,  if  possible,  to  take  a  prisoner.  All  hands  were 
ordered  out  to  throw  up  more  works,  and  the 
Enemies  delay  surprised  us,  as  they  well  knew  the 

^"^Monin  commanded  an  irregular  company  of  Canadians, 
and  was  engaged  with  the  reckless  McKay  in  expeditions 
against  the  Americans,  small  parties  of  whom  he  surprised 
and  either  killed  or  captured.  These  men,  on  account  of 
their  cruelty,  were  warmly  hated  by  the  Patriots,  who 
repaid  them  in  their  own  coin  whenever  occasion  offered. 
Monin  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Freeman's  Farm  Sep- 
tember 19,  1777. 

""The  Bleurie  river  is  opposite  Isle-aux-Noix  and  empties 
into  Jackson's  creek. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


143 


more  time  we  had  to  repair  our  works,  the  stronger 
the  island  would  be.  We  continued  very  impatient 
for  a  prisoner  to  acquaint  us  with  their  intentions, 
not  judging  what  their  aim  could  be  by  bringing  so 
large  a  force  so  very  near  and  yet  not  attacking  us. 

5.  Captain  Frazier  returned  without  any  intelli- 
gence, except  counting  their  vessels.  On  being  per- 
ceived, they  gave  chase,  but  he  being  in  a  birch 
cannoe  soon  got  clear  of  them. 

6^^  Lieutenant  Scott  went  up  towards  the  enemy 
who  were  still  cruising  off  the  island  Amott,'"  about 
30  miles  from  us.  He  had  a  cannoe  full  of  In- 
dians, and  was  if  possible  not  to  return  without  a 
prisoner.  When  night  came  on,  he  paddled  his 
birch  cannoe  through  their  fleet.  This  the  reader 
will  think  rather  improbable;  but  the  Indians  have 
a  method  of  putting  the  paddle  in  the  water  and 
taking  it  up  again  without  the  smallest  noise,  and 
the  night  being  very  dark  favoured  him.  He  thus 
got  through  their  fleet  undiscovered,  and  at  day 
break  covered  himself  and  party  in  some  bushes 
on  [the]  shore  side,  where  he  did  not  long  remain 
until  a  battow  of  theirs  came  on  purpose  to  cut  wood 

'"  Isle  la  Motte  is  an  island  about  six  miles  long  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  lake.  The  sieur  la  Mothe,  a  French 
officer,  erected  on  the  west  side  of  this  island  and  near  the 
water's  edge,  in  1665,  a  wooden  fort  or  redoubt,  to  which  he 
gave  the  name  of  Fort  St.  Anne.  This  fort  was  subse- 
quently called  Fort  la  Mothe,  and  the  Frenchman's  name 
was  also  bestowed  upon  the  island.  When  Kalm  passed 
through  the  lake  in  1749,  he  says  that  the  fort  had  entirely 
disappeared,  though  he  was  shown  the  spot  where  it  stood. 


144 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


for  fuel ;  they  not  dreaming  of  danger  left  their 
arms  in  the  boat  on  going  ashore.  The  first  who 
landed,  an  Indian  starting  from  his  ambush  caught 
him  by  his  pouch-belt,  but  the  fellow  by  a  sudden 
exertion,  and  being  greatly  frighted,  disengaged  him- 
self, the  belt  breaking,  and  ran  with  all  his  speed 
to  alarm  his  comrades  in  the  battow ;  who,  before 
they  could  make  use  of  their  arms,  received  a  heavy 
fire  from  the  Indians,  which  did  great  execution 
among  them,  and  left  but  a  very  few  to  row  back  the 
battow.  Scott  findeing  he  would  soon  be  discovered, 
was  obliged  to  take  into  the  woods,  where  the  Indians 
in  some  time  brought  him  opposite  our  island."* 

1 8.  Our  Indians  destroyed  another  battow  of  the 
enemy,  but  could  not  take  a  prisoner.  We  then  gave 
over  all  thoughts  of  their  comeing  down  to  attack 
us,  and  the  building  of  our  vessels  went  on  with  great 
dispatch  at  St  Johns. 

"^This  is  the  American  account  of  this  affair;  "On  the 
same  day  (6th)  the  boats  were  ordered  on  shore  to  cut  fas- 
cines to  fix  the  bows  and  sides  of  the  gondolas,  to  prevent 
the  enemy  from  boarding  them  and  to  keep  off  small  shot. 
A  boat's  crew  of  the  sloop  Enterprise  went  on  shore  with- 
out a  covering  party.  They  had  been  out  on  the  same  duty 
the  two  preceding  days  with  covering  parties  and  returned 
unmolested,  but  upon  this  occasion  they  neglected  that  pre- 
caution, when  they  were  attacked  by  a  party  of  the  Forty- 
seventh  Regiment  and  savages,  under  Lieutenant  Scott  of 
the  light  infantry  of  tl.  ^  Twenty-fourth  Regiment,  who 
pursued  them  into  the  water.  They  all  reached  the  boat, 
but  before  they  could  row  off,  three  of  them  were  killed, 
and  six  others  were  wounded."  Vide  The  Campaign  for  the 
Conquest  of  Canada,  p.  145,  et  seq. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


145 


25.  An  officer  of  theirs  gave  himself  up  to  us."^ 
The  manner  it  happened  was  as  follows.  He  was 
sent  with  two  men  from  them  to  reconnoitre  our 
situation  &^  &*".  They  had  seven  days  provisions 
given  them  on  setting  out,  and  came  undiscovered 
opposite  our  island,  where  he  took  an  exact  view  of 
our  camp  works  &'^.  &^.  and  sent  one  man  back  with 
the  intelligence.  He  and  the  other  then  proceeded 
through  the  woods  down  to  St  Johns,  where  he  saw 
the  Carlton  and  Maria^^^  near  finished  and  other 
vessels  on  the  stocks.  His  seven  days  provisions 
being  then  almost  finished,  he  returned  back,  still 
undiscovered  by  our  Indians,  which  was  surprising, 
as  they  were  generally  on  scouting  parties  through 
the  woods.  On  comeing  opposite  to  where  their 
fleet  lay  when  he  left  them,  he  perceived  they  had 
quit  that  station,  as  the  preceding  day,  from  a  gale 
of  wind,  they  were  obliged  to  take  shelter  under  the 
Isle-of-Mott.  He  was  then  greatly  at  a  loss  what 
course  to  take,  his  provisions  being  all  gone,  and 
after  liveing  a  day  or  two  on  nuts  and  whatever  he 
could  pick  up  in  the  woods,  he  was  obliged  to  sur- 
render himself  to  one  of  our  out  posts  and  was  imme- 
diately conveyed  to  General  Frazier,  who  from  his 


113' 


'This  was  probably  Ensign  McCoy,  who  was  dispatched 
by  Arnold  down  the  west  side  of  the  Sorel  with  a  squad  of 
three  men  to  obtain  intelligence  of  the  enemy.  Lieutenant 
Whitcomb  was  also  dispatched  with  a  like  squad  down  the 
east  side  of  the  river  for  the  same  purpose,  but  we  have  an 
account  of  his  return,  while  no  mention  is  made  of  McCoy's. 
"*  She  was  so  named  in  honor  of  the  Lady  Maria  Howard, 
the  wife  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton. 

19 


r"— TaiariBii 


146 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


sullen  manner  did  not  much  depend  on  the  intelli- 
gence he  gave.  He  informed  that  they  had  no 
intention  of  coming  down  to  attack  us  by  land, 
well  knowing  the  great  superiority  they  must  have 
over  our  forces  on  the  lake,  their  fleet  being 
much  superior,  he  was  convinced,  to  any  we  could 
bring  against  them  that  year.     That  Col  Arnold  "^ 

"'  Benedict  Arnold  was  born  at  Norwich,  Connecticut, 
January  3,  1741.  His  father  was  a  man  of  character,  and  of 
his  mother  it  was  said  by  one  who  knew  her  intimately,  that 
she  "was  a  saint  on  earth  and  is  now  a  saint  in  heaven." 
A  letter  from  her  to  Benedict  while  at  school,  is  worthy  of 
reproduction  here,  as  showing  the  character  of  his  early 
training : 

"  Norwich,  y4/n7  12,  1754. 

"Dear  Child:  I  received  yours  of  the  ist  instant  and 
was  glad  to  hear  that  you  was  well ;  pray,  my  dear,  let  your 
first  concern  be  to  make  your  peace  with  God,  as  it  is  of  all 
concerns  of  the  greatest  importance. 

"  Keep  a  steady  watch  over  your  thoughts,  words  and 
actions.  Be  dutiful  to  superiors,  obliging  to  equals,  and 
affable  to  inferiors,  if  any  such  there  be.  Always  choose 
that  your  companions  be  your  betters,  that  by  their  good 
examples  you  may  learn. 

"  From  your  affectionate  mother, 

"  HANNAH  ARNOLD. 

"  P.  S.  —  I  have  sent  you  50s.  Your  father  put  in  20 
more.  Use  it  prudently,  as  you  are  accountable  to  God  and 
your  father.  Your  father  and  aunt  join  with  me  in  love  and 
service  to  Mr.  Cogswell  and  lady,  and  yourself.  Your  sister 
is  from  home." 


In  spite  of  his  excellent  training,  he  grew  to  be  a  man 
ostentatious  in  manner,  insincere  and  thoroughly  selfish. 
That  he  possessed  military  abihty  of  a  high  order,  was  ever 


Lieutenant  Digbys  JotirnaL 


H7 


was  Commodore  on  the  lake,  and  commanded  on 
board  the  Royal  Savage  \yi  great  force.  He  also  said 
that  there  were  20,000  men  at  Crown  Point  and 
Ticonderoga  well   supplied  with  cannon  provisions 

26'^  We  had  a  violent  storm  of  rain,  wind,  thunder, 
and  great  flashes  of  lightening  during  the  night.  I 
often  thought  the  tent  would  take  fire.  Next  morn- 
ing I  mounted  an  advanced  guard  four  miles  above 
the  island,  the  storm  still  continueing,  and  passed  a 
most  disagreeable  day  and  night  with  scarce  any 
shelter  from  the  constant  heavy  rain.  We  could 
there  hear  their  evening  gun  very  plain,  and  it  was 

alert  and  thoroughly  brave,  no  one  can  doubt.  Many  of  the 
men  who  engaged  with  him  in  the  war  for  independence 
were  governed  by  no  higher  motives  than  those  which  actu- 
ated him  :  possessed,  indeed,  a  desire  for  self-aggrandizement 
as  inordinate  as  his,  and  never  realized  the  moral  splendor 
of  the  cause  for  which  they  contended.  When  the  news  of 
the  battle  of  Lexington  reached  him  at  New  Haven,  where 
he  was  keeping  a  druggist's  shop,  he  at  once  seized  his 
sword  and  hastened  to  Boston  to  offer  his  services  to  his 
country.  He  suftered  severe  hardships  in  the  war  which 
followed,  and  did  not  shrink  from  making  any  personal  sacri- 
fice to  attain  success.  He  rendered  valuable  service  to  the 
cause  of  liberty  ;  but  smarting  under  the  sting  of  disap- 
pointed ambition,  he  rushed  in  a  fit  of  passion  to  the 
commission  of  an  act  wholly  inexcusable.  That  he  has 
been  painted  in  darker  colors  than  he  deserved  is  now 
known.  After  his  treason,  he  went  to  England  and  died  at 
Brampton  June  20,  1801.  Though  treated  with  considera- 
tion by  the  king,  he  suffered  indignities  from  men,  who 
perhaps,  made  the  occasion  of  his  treason  serve  to  enable 
them  to  show  their  inborn  contempt  of  a  New  England 
colonic  v»l»o  was  naturally  disliked  at  this  time  in  England. 


148 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


proposed  in  a  few  days   to  move  up  to  Riviere-la- 
Cole/"*  seven  miles  nearer  them. 

27"'.  Had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  two  of  our 
schooners,  the  Maria  &  Carlton,  come  up  to  us 
from  St  Johns.  Captain  Pringle  "^  was  appointed 
Commodore  of  the  Lake  Champlain  aiid  to  com- 
mand on  board  the  Maria,  so  called  after  lady  Maria 
Carlton.  In  the  evening  I  was  seized  with  a 
violent  shivering  and  lightness  in  my  head,  which 
was  attributed  to  cold,  I  must  have  got  the  pre- 
ceeding  night  on  guard.  About  10  o  clock  I  was 
quite  delireous  and  out  of  my  senses,  after  which  I 

"^  Riviere  la  Colle,  nine  miles  southerly  from  Point  aii  Fer, 
on  the  western  side  of  the  lake.  According  to  Hadden, 
there  was  a  small  settlement  there  at  this  time. 

"^Thomas  Pringle  was  of  Scotch  birth,  and  this  was  the 
beginning  of  a  notable  career.  After  his  success  on  Lake 
Champlain,  he  returned  to  England  as  bearer  of  dispatches, 
and  was  made  a  post-captain  November  25th.  In  January, 
1777,  he  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Ariadne  and 
joined  the  West  India  fleet,  attaining  distinction  in  several 
naval  engagements.  On  April  4, 1 794,  he  was  made  colonel  of 
the  Marine  Forces,  and  on  June  4th,  in  reward  for  his  brilliant 
services  in  the  victory  over  the  French  fleet  of  Admiral 
Villaret,  he  was  created  a  rear-admiral  of  the  Blue,  and 
June  I,  1795,  rear-admiral  of  the  Red.  He  subsequently 
took  command  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  February  14, 
1799,  was  made  vice-admiral  of  the  White,  and  January  i, 
1801,  vice-admiral  of  the  Red.  His  death  took  place  at 
Edinburgh  Decembers,  1803.  Vide  Political  Index  to  His- 
tories Great  Britain,  etc.  (Beatson),  vol.  2,  p.  47  ;  London 
Chronicle,  vol.  41,  p.  406,  vol.  43,  p.  186,  vol.  44,  p.  458,  vol. 
45,  p.  286,  vol.  48,  p.  58  ;  Universal  Magazine,  London,  vol. 
62,  pp.  140,  274 ;  Military  Memoirs  (Beatson),  vol.  6,  pp.  160, 
270;  Annual  Register,  1794,  1795,  1799,  1801  ;  Naval  His- 
tory of  Great  Britain  (Brenton),  vol.  2,  pp.  42,  169,  et  seq. 


Liettienant  Digby^c  Journal. 


149 


cannot  tell  what  happened.  I  was  blistered  on 
my  bac,  and  all  the  next  day  continued  in  the 
same  distracted  situation.  Indeed,  I  believe  my 
friends  thought  it  was  all  over  with  me,  but  it 
pleased  God  to  spare  me,  and  on  the  30'''  I 
returned  to  my  senses,  but  so  weak  and  faint, 
as  scarce  able  to  turn  in  my  bed,  and  what  made 
it  more  disagreeable  was  our  corps  of  Grenadiers 
moveing  up  to  Riviere-la-Cole  the  day  I  fell  ill. 
My  tent  could  not  be  struck  on  account  of  my 
situation,  so  [I]  was  left  almost  alone  on  the  island, 
but  did  not  remain  long  in  that  situation,  as  the  First 
Brigade  landed  from  St  Johns,  the  3 1**' regiment  com- 
posing part  of  it,  when  my  brother  in  law,  Capt. 
Pilot,"^  gave  me  every  assistance  in  his  power, —  got 


""^  Henry  Pilot,  the  brother-in-law  of  Digby,  was  com- 
missioned a  lieutenant  in  the  Thirty-first  Foot,  July  18, 
1764,  and  shortly  after  embarked  for  Pensacola,  the  capital  of 
West  Florida,  which  country  had  the  previous  year  been 
ceded  to  Great  Britain  by  Spain.  /  t  this  time  the  yellow 
fever  prevailed  there,  and  upon  iLo  arrival  the  regiment 
suffered  severe  mortality.  It  continued  here  however,  until 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Carib  war.  On  the  eve  of  the  cam- 
paign arrainst  the  Caribs  —  September  23,  1772  —  Pilot  was 
promoted  to  a  captaincy,  and  served  in  that  capacity  during 
the  arduous  and  destructive  campaign  of  the  following  two 
years.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  Carib  war,  he  returned  to 
England,  where  he  was  stationed  at  the  time  of  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  war  in  America.  He  participated  in  the 
campaign  of  '76,  but  was  performing  garrison  duty  when 
Burgoyne's  army  surrendered ;  hence  he  escaped  the 
captivity  which  befel  a  portion  of  his  regiment.  As  his 
name  disappears  from  the  army  list  in  1782,  it  is  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  he  left  his  regiment  in  Canada,  where  it  was 


tTti/rc^tv^K^', . 


150 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


me  a  good  physician  and  had  me  removed  into  his 
tent  which  had  a  stove,  where  I  recovered  fast.  The 
few  days  I  continued  ill,  there  was  heavy  rain  and  the 
island  almost  flooded  ;  but,  fortunately,  my  tent  had 
stood  it  out  pretty  well.  We  were  all  provided  for 
the  cold  weather  —  we  then  soon  expected  in  cross- 
ing the  lake, —  with  warm  clothing,  such  as  under 
waistcoats,  leggings,  socks  &^  Sc*^.,  and  smokeing 
tobacco  was  counted  a  preservative  of  the  health 
against  dews,  which  arose  from  the  many  swamps  and 
marshy,  drowned  lands  that  surrounded  the  island. 

October  5'^  Went  up  to  our  corps  at  Riviere-la- 
Cole,  after  remaining  witL  my  friends  of  the  31^* 
regiment  till  I  recovered  sufficient  strength.  I 
sailed  up  in  a  raddoux  vessel  carrying  six  9 
pounders,  commanded  by  captain  Longcroft,"'  who 

then  and  for  several  years  afterward  stationed,  and  returned 
home,  perhaps  with  Digby,  who  retired  at  the  same  time. 
From  this  period  we  lose  sight  of  him  until  June  14,  1800, 
when  he  .vas  appointed  town  major  of  Dublin.  Of  his  sub- 
sequent career  we  have  no  particulars.  Vide  British  Army 
I  ists,  /;/  loco ;  Historical  Record  of  the  Thirty  first  Foot, 
pp.  33-42. 

"^  Edward  Longcroft's  name  do'?s  not  appear  in  the  subse- 
quent operations  of  Burgoyne's  Army.  After  his  return  to 
England  he  was  commissioned  a  commander  in  the  British 
service,  April  23,  1782,  a  position  which  he  continued  to 
hold  for  a  number  of  years.  Vide  Court  and  City  Register 
for  1789  and  1794.  Edward  Longcroft  entered  the  British 
naval  service  as  a  midshipman  on  board  the  Arrogant, 
October  3,  1769,  and  served  on  this  ship  until  he  joined  the 
Namiir ,  December  26,  1770.  On  April  18,  1771,  he  joined 
the  Princess  Amelia  of  eighty  guns,  then  under  the  orders  of 
Admiral  Rodney,  who  had  recently  been  appointed  to  the 


i 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


151 


showed  me  every  civility  in  his  power.  The  floating 
Battery,  Maria  and  Carlton,  sailed  with  us,  and  our 
little  voyage  was  pleasant,  the  day  being  fine  and  the 
lake  now  running  very  broad.  General  Burgoyne 
was  on  board  the  Maria,  who  ran  aground  on  a  bank, 
but  was  towed  off  without  any  damage.  The  ves- 
sels were  all  cleared  and  ready  for  action,  waiting 
only  for  the  Inflexible,  our  largest  vessel,  which  was 
shortly  expected  up.''° 

Jamaica  station,  and  served  until  July  14,  1772,  when  he 
received  his  discharge.  We  see  no  more  of  him  until  we 
find  him  in  command  of  the  Loyal  Convert  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain.  It  is  probable  that  he  was  on  the  fleet  that  sailed 
from  Cork,  in  the  spring  of  1776,  for  the  relief  of  Quebec, 
and  that  he  was  acting  as  a  volunteer,  since  his  name  does 
not  appear  on  the  Admiralty  record  during  this  period.  At 
what  time  he  returned  to  England  we  are  not  informed ; 
but  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  first  lieutenant  on  the 
Grafton,  February  13,  1781.  He  was  placed  on  half  pay 
September  11,  1781  ;  but  on  May  i,  1782,  was  put  in  com- 
mand of  the  Zebra,  one  of  the  squadron  under  command  of 
Commodore  Dacres,  who  has  been  mentioned  elsewhere. 
On  Ap  'il  15,  1783,  he  went  on  half  pay  and  remained  out  of 
the  service  until  April  15,  1805,  when  he  was  put  in  com- 
mand of  the  Sea  Fencibles  between  Kidwelly  and  Cardigan. 
On  March  i,  18 10,  he  again  went  on  half  pay,  and  died 
August  16,  18 12.  I  am  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  the 
Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty  for  materials  of  this 
note. 

^-°The  Inflexible  was  a  three-masted  vessel,  and  the  Maria 
and  Carleton  were  schooners.  After  trying  in  vain  to  drag 
these  vessels  around  the  Chambly  rapids  on  rollers,  they  had 
been  taken  to  pieces  and  so  transported  to  a  convenient 
place  from  which  they  could  be  launched.  After  laying  the 
keel,  the  Inflexible  was  ready  to  enter  the  water  in  twenty- 
eight  days,  but  Carleton  was  obliged  to  float  her  below  the 


152 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


6^\  The  fleet  went  up  a  little  higher  with  a  fair 
wind.  The  enemies  were  cruising  off  Cumberland 
Bay,  about  20  miles  above  ours. 

7^^  The  First  Brigade  moved  up  to  our  post  at 
Riviere-la-Cole,  and  ours  went  up  to  point-au-Faire,"' 
seven  miles  higher.  The  order  for  our  proceeding 
on  the  Lake  was  as  follows.  Three  small  boats  in 
front  of  all  as  a  party  of  observation,  our  schooners 
and  armed  vessels  in  line  of  battle  following  :  Gun 

Isle-aux-Noix,  where  the  water  had  a  sufficient  depth,  in 
order  that  she  might  receive  her  guns,  which  consisted  of 
eighteen  twelve-pounders.  The  "  raddoux  vessel"  which 
Digby  was  on,  was  the  Loyal  Convert,  and  had  been  cap- 
tured from  the  Americans  when  they  abandoned  Quebec. 
The  entire  fleet  was  as  follows: 

Ship  Inflexible,  Lieutenant  Schank,  18  12-pound  guns. 

Schooner  Maria,  Lieutenant  Starke,  14  6-pound  guns. 

Schooner  Carleton,  Lieutenant  Dacres,  12  6-pound  guns. 

Radeau  Thunderer,  Lieutenant  Scott,  6  24-pound  guns,  6 
12-pound  guns,  2  howitzer  guns. 

Gondola  Loyal  Convert,  Lieutenant  Longcroft,  7  9-pound 

guns. 

Twenty  gunboats,  each  having  a  brass  field-piece  of  from 
9  to  24  pounds  each,  some  carrying  howitzers. 

Four  tenders,  or  long  boats,  carrying  field  pieces. 

Twenty-four  long  boats  carrying  provisions. 

The  entire  fleet  comprised  twenty-nine  vessels  armed  with 
eighty  nine  guns  and  manned  with  six  hundred  and  seventy 
thoroughly  trained  and  disciplined  men,  all  under  the  com- 
mand of  Pringle,  who  on  all  occasions  showed  himself  to 
be  a  most  daring  and  efficient  officer.  Both  Pringle  and 
Dacres  rose  subsequently  by  their  ability  to  the  highest  rank 
in  the  British  navy. 

^21  Point  au  Per  is  a  headland  on  tbe  eastern  shore  of  the 
lake.  Burgoyne  considered  it  of  sufficient  importance  to 
fortify  it  with  a  block-house. 


m^"- 


■M 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


153 


boats  carrying  24  or  12  pounders  in  their  bow  and 
maned  by  the  Artillery.  The  battallion  of  Gren- 
adiers in  flat  bottomed  boats,  and  in  their  rear, 
the  remainder  of  the  army  in  battows.  One  gun 
fired  from  a  gun  boat,  was  a  signal  to  form  8  boats 
a  breast ;  and  two  guns,  a  signal  to  form  a  line  of 
boats.  This  had  a  pretty  effect,  as  our  men  were 
all  expert  at  rowing,  having  been  ordered  to  practice 
frequently.  This  was  the  first  intention  of  our  cross- 
ing, but  afterwards,  found  not  to  answer  so  well  as 
our  armed  vessels  and  gun  boats  engageing  theirs 
separately,  leaving  the  troops  on  land  to  wait  the 
decision,  as  were  any  accident  to  happen  to  the 
armed  vessels,  the  troops  must  be  in  a  most  hazard- 
ous situation,  and  little  able  to  defend  themselves 
with  small  arms  against  the  cannon  of  the  enemy. 

At  Point-au  Faire,  the  lake  turns  quite  a  sea,  form- 
ing a  most  beautiful  prospect,  being  intersperced 
with  numerous  islands,  mostly  thick  with  trees,  which 
at  that  time  of  the  year  (the  trees  changing  their 
colour)  added  still  to  the  scene.  This  place  is  thickly 
covered  with  wood,  under  which  we  pitched  our  tents, 
waiting  for  the  Inflexible  ;  she  being  obliged  from  want 
of  water  to  have  her  guns  brought  up  in  boats,  after 
which  a  ship  of  the  line  would  have  water  sufficient ; 
and  it  certainly  was  a  noble  sight  to  see  such  a  vessel 
on  a  fresh  water  lake  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Continent 
of  America  &  so  great  a  distance  from  the  sea 

8^\  It  blew  fresh  and  a  good  deal  damaged  our 
battows  by  strikeing  against  each  other,  on  which  we 
20 


II 

n 


154 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


anchored  our  flat  bottom  boats  off  the  shore,  and 
brought  the  battows  round  a  point  to  a  small  creek 
under  some  shelter  from  the  land.  There  were  many 
deer  in  the  woods  about,  some  of  which  we  shot,  also 
great  flocks  of  wild  pidgeons,  which,  as  our  fresh  pro- 
visions (sheep  &''  we  brought  from  St  Johns  and 
Isle-aux-Noix)  were  almost  finished,  helped  out  his 
majesties  allowance  of  beef  and  pork  very  well. 
The  wood  was  so  thick  round  us,  that  some  of  our 
men  were  near  losing  themselves  on  straggling  a 
small  distance  from  camp,  against  which  there  were 
particular  orders.  It  is  surprising,  with  what  a  degree 
of  certainty  an  Indian  will  make  his  way  from  one 
country  to  another  through  the  thickest  woods,  allow- 
ing the  sun  to  be  constantly  hid  from  his  sight  by 
clouds,  where  a  person,  not  used  to  such  a  country, 
would  soon  be  lost,  and  the  more  attempts  made  to 
extricate  himself,  perhaps,  would  only  serve  to  entan- 
gle him  the  deeper. 

9.  We  had  3  men  killed  on  the  spot  by  a  tree 
that  was  cut  down  near  their  tent,  and  unfortunately 
fell  on  them  while  asleep.  To  prevent  such  a  melan- 
choly accident  happening  again,  an  order  was  given 
for  no  tree  to  be  felled,  within  100  yards  of  the 
camp.  About  12  o'clock  we  heard  the  enemy  very 
distinctlv  scaleine  the  euns'"  on  board  their  fleet,  and 


'g 


gui 


soon   hoped  to   make    [themj    exercise    them  in    a 

'^Scaling  a  gun  is,  in  nnilitary  parlance,  to  cleanse  it  of 
scales  occasioned  by  rust,  which  is  accomplished  by  explod- 
ing in  the  gun  small  charges  of  powder. 


SSStt! 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


155 


different  manner.  The  bad  intelligence,  the  army 
received  of  General  Howes"^  opperations  to  the 
southward,  was  not  a  little  surprising,  our  expecta- 
tions being  sanguine  from  that  quarter,  he  having 
the  command  of  so  great  an  army,  and  so  fine  a  fleet 

'^  Sir  William  Howe  was  p  grandson  of  George  the  First  by 
his  mistress,  the  Baroness  Kiimansegge.  He  was  born  August 
10,  1 729,  and  entered  the  army  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  He  was 
made  lieutenant,  September  21,  1747,  and  captain  of  the 
Twentieth  Foot,  June  i,  1750,  major  of  the  Sixtieth  Foot, 
January  4,  1756,  and  lieutenant-colonel,  December  17,  1757. 
He  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Louisbourg,  in  1758,  and  par- 
ticipated as  commander  of  the  light  infantry  in  the  capture 
of  Quebec  under  General  Wolfe.  He  was  in  command  of  a 
brigade  against  the  French  in  1761,  and,  in  1762,  acted  as 
adjutant-general  in  the  operations  against  Havana.  He 
was  commissioned  a  colonel  in  the  army,  February  19,  1762, 
colonel  of  the  Forty-sixth  Foot,  November  21,  1764,  and 
lieutenant-governor  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  in  1768.  He  was 
created  a  major-general.  May  25,  1772,  and,  when  the  war 
broke  out  in  America,  formed  one  of  the  noted  trio  to  whom 
was  assigned  the  task  of  subjugating  the  refractory  colonists. 
With  his  associates,  Clinton  and  Burgo}'ne,  he  reached  Bos- 
ton, May  25,  1775,  and  led  the  assault  on  Bunker  Hill,  He 
succeeded  General  Gage  in  the  command  of  the  British 
forces  in  America  in  the  following  October.  He  was  in 
great  favor  with  the  government,  which  seems  to  have  placed 
full  confidence  in  his  ability.  He  led  a  luxurious  life  in 
Boston,  frequenting,  it  is  said,  the  faro  table,  the  ball-room 
and  the  theatre,  and  carrying  on  an  affaire  d' amour  with  a 
popular  belle  of  the  day,  which  caused  a  writer  to  say  that 
"as  Cleopatra  of  old  lost  Mark  Antony  the  world,  so  did 
this  illustrious  courtesan  lose  Sir  William  Howe  the  honor, 
the  laurels,  and  the  glory  of  putting  an  end  to  one  of  the 
most  obstinate  rebellions  that  ever  existed."  He  was  created 
lieutenant-general  in  the  army,  August  29,  1777.  He  was 
relieved  from  his  command  in  America  in  May,  1778,  and 
returned  to  England.     He  represented  Nottingham  in  Par- 


mm 


i 


156 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Jourftal. 


under  his  brother  lord  Howe,"'^  we  could  expect  no 
accounts  by  land,  that  being  In  possession  of  the 
enemy,  but  the  sea  was  open,  and,  had  he  performed 
any  capital  stroke,  It  should  not  be  kept  a  secret  from 
the  army.  General  Carlton,  some  Imagined,  might 
have  received  Intelligence,  which  It  was  said  he  could 
not  divulge  were  they  ever  so  favourable.  Certainly  he 
is  one  of  the  most  distant,  reserved  men  In  the  world  ; 
he  has  a  rigid  strictness  in  his  manner,  very  unpleas- 
Ing,  and  which  he  observes  even  to  his  most  particu- 
lar friends  and  acquaintance,  at  the  same  time  he  is 
a  very  able  General  and  brave  officer ;    has  seen  a 

liament  during  the  sessions  of  1778,  '79  and  '80,  and  became 
lieutenant-general  of  ordnance,  April  23,  1782,  member  of 
the  Privy  Council  June  21st  of  the  same  year,  colonel  of  the 
Nineteenth  Light  Dragoons,  April  21,  1786,  general  in  the 
army,  October  12,  1793,  governor  of  Berwick  in  1795.  On 
the  death  of  his  brother.  Lord  Viscount  Howe,  in  1799,  he 
succeeded  to  his  titles.  In  1808  he  was  appointed  governor 
at  Plymouth.  He  died  July  12,  18 14.  Vide  British  Army 
Lists,  in  loco  ;  Siege  of  Boston  (Frothingham),  pp.  133-149 
et  passim ;  Burke's  Peerage  and  Baronetage,  in  loco  :  His- 
torical Record  Forty-Sixth  Foot ;  History  of  New  York 
During  the  Revolutionary  War  (Jones),  vol.  i,  pp.  252,  716 
et  passim;  vol.  2,  pp.  86,  423  et  passim. 

^^■^  Richard  Earl  Howe  was  born  in  1725,  and  succeeded  to 
the  titles  of  his  elder  brother,  the  friend  of  Schuyler,  who 
was  killed  at  Ticonderoga  in  1758.  He  was  a  midshipman 
at  the  age  of  fourteen  under  Lord  Anson,  and  was  a  lieuten- 
ant at  twenty.  He  had  risen  to  the  rank  of  rear-admiral  in 
1770,  and,  in  1775,  was  made  vice-admiral  of  the  Blue.  After 
his  return  from  America  he  became  first  lord  of  the  admi- 
ralty and  commanded  the  British  fleet  successfully  against 
the  French  in  1794.  He  died  August  5,  1799.  Vide  Burke's 
Peerage  and  Baronetage,  in  loco. 


Lieute7iant  Digbys  Journal. 


157 


great  deal  of  service  and  rose  from  a  private  life, 
though  a  very  good  family,  by  mere  merit  to  the 
rank  he  at  present  bears.  In  time  of  danger  he  pos- 
sesses a  coolness  and  steadiness,  (the  attendant  on 
true  courage)  which  few  can  attain ;  yet  he  was  far 
from  being  the  favorite  of  the  army.  Genl  Bur- 
goyne  alone  engrossed  their  warmest  attachment. 
From  haveing  seen  a  great  deal  of  polite  life,  he 
possesses  a  winning  manner  in  his  appearance  and 
address,  far  different  from  the  severity  of  Carlton, 
which  caused  him  to  be  idolized  by  the  army,  his 
orders  appearing  more  like  recommending  subor- 
dination than  enforcing  it.  On  every  occasion  he 
was  the  soldiers  friend,  well  knowing  the  most  san- 
guine expectations  a  general  can  have  of  success, 
must  proceed  from  the  spirit  of  the  troops  under  his 
command.  The  manner  he  gained  their  esteem  was 
by  rewarding  the  meritorious  when  in  his  power, 
which  seldom  failed  from  the  praise  which  they  re- 
ceived, to  cause  a  remissness  in  duty  [to  be]  odious 
and  unmanly,  and  a  desire  of  emulation  soldier  like 
&  honourable.  But  I  shall  often  have  occasion  to 
mention  him  in  the  following  pages. 

lo'^  About  1 2  o  clock  our  small  fleet  sailed  up  with 
a  fair  wind,  which  was  a  most  pleasing  sight  to  the 
army.  Their  decks  were  all  cleared  &  ready  for 
immediate  action.  Genl  Carlton  went  in  person  (tho. 
many  blamed  his  hazarding  himself  on  an  element 
so  much  out  of  his  line),  on  board  the  Maria,  and 
gave  the  command  of  the  fleet  to  Pringle  as  com- 


158 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


modore,  by  which  he  was  of  very  little  service  on 
board,  excepting  proveing  his  courage,  which  no  man 
in  the  army  has  the  least  doubt  of.  The  wind 
blowing  fresh,  we  expected  shortly  to  hear  of  their 
engageing,  on  which  our  fate  in  a  great  measure 
depended. 

1 1^''.  We  were  in  hourly  expectation  of  intelligence. 
Our  Indians  were  on  the  banks  on  the  lake,  who,  we 
eagerly  hoped,  would  come  down  to  inform  us  of 
any  thing  particular,  and  that  day  passed  over  in  the 
greatest  state  of  uncertainty. 

i2^\  Was  awoke  very  early  in  the  morning  by  a 
confused  noise  about  my  tent,  and  on  hearing  the 
word  Carlton  named,  imagined  something  had  hap- 
pened, so  arose  and  made  the  greatest  haste  to  the 
shore  side,  where  a  boat  had  just  arrived  with  our 
wounded  men  from  the  fleet.  The  accounts  were, 
that  our  fleet  came  pretty  near  them,  when  the  wind 
shifted  a  little  about,  when  none  of  our  vessels  could 
haul  so  much  to  the  windward  as  the  Carlto?i,  who 
made  all  the  sail  possible  for  them  and  stood  most 
of  their  fire  for  a  long  time,  assisted  by  a  few  gun 
boats  ;  that  the  Royal  Savage^'^^  engaged  her,  and 
at  last  was  obliged  to  strike  to    the    CarltoUy  but, 

^2*^  The  Royal  Savage  was  a  schooner,  and  had  been  built 
under  the  supervision  of  General  Arnold.  She  carried  four 
six  and  eight  four-pound  guns,  and  was  manned  by  fifty  men. 
The  account  of  her  destruction,  here  given  by  Digby,  is 
doubtless  as  it  was  given  to  him,  but  is  incorrect.  The 
Royal  Savage,  while  beating  up  against  the  wind  where  there 
was  insufficient  room,  was  stranded  on  Valcour  island.    She 


LiciUenant  Digbys  Journal, 


159 


against  all  the  rules  of  war,  after  strikeing,  they 
ran  her  on  shore,  blew  her  up  and  escaped  in  the 
wood.  The  greatest  praise  was  given  to  lieut  Decars 
for  his  spirited  behaviour,  as  he  did  not  retire  till  so 
much  shattered  in  masts  &  rigging,  as  made  it  nec- 
essary to  tow  the  vessel  off  by  boats.  Our  gun  boats 
also  did  great  execution,  but  unfortunately,  one  of 
them  blew  up  on  the  water.  The  sailors  also  informed 
us,  that  the  enemy  wanted  to  fly  from  us,  but  that 
our  fleet  had  got  them  into  a  bay  which  they  could 
not  escape  from,  without  fighting,  and  that  our  Float- 
ing battery  was  moored  at  the  entrance  of  the  bay, 
and  three  24  pounders  ready  to  open  on  them  by 
day  light.  From  these  accounts,  it  was  imagined 
that  in  all  probability,  a  few  hours  would  determine 
who  should  be  masters  of  the  Lake — though  we  made 
but  little  doubt  of  our  being  victorious ;  and  all  that 
day,  waited  with  the  greatest  impatience — watching 
earnestly  with  our  glasses  for  the  appearance  of  a 
boat. 

13^^  Was  passed  over  in  the  same  state  of  sus- 
pense and  uncertainty. 

14^^  We  were  very  impatient  for  an  express,  and 
did  not  well  know  what  to  think,  when  about  3 
o'clock  a  cannoe  was  perceived  at  a  great  distance 
makeing  all  the  way  possible  for  our  camp.     On  her 

had  been  much  injured  in  the  engagement,  and  as  it  ^vas 
found  impossible  to  get  her  afloat,  she  was  abandoned,  and 
her  crew  escaped.  A  party  of  British  troops  boarded  her 
during  the  night,  and  to  prevent  the  Americans  from  making 
any  use  of  her  again,  set  her  on  fire  and  so  destroyed  her. 


i6o 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


nearer  approach  we  perceived    it   was   Sir   Francis 
Clark/^^  the  general's  aid-de-camp,  who  waving  the 

^"^  Sir  Francis  Carr  Gierke  was  born  in  London,  October 
24,  1748,  and  entered  the  Third  Foot  Guards,  January  3, 
1770,-as  an  ensi<^n,  and  received  a  lieutenant's  commission, 
July  26,  1775,  which  was  equivalent  to  the  rank  of  a  captain 
in  the  army.  He  was  made  adjutant,  February  3,  1776,  and 
accompanied  Burgoyne,  with  whom  he  was  a  favorite,  to 
America  as  an  aide-de-camp.  When  Burgoyne  returned  to 
England,  after  the  campaign  of  '^6^  Gierke  accompanied 
him,  and  also  returned  with  him  the  next  spring  in  the 
capacity  of  private  secretary  and  aide-de-camp.  In  the  bat- 
tle of  October  7,  1777,  while  riding  to  deliver  an  order 
which  Burgoyne  said  would  have  changed  the  fortunes  of 
the  day  had  it  been  delivered,  he  was  shot  in  the  bowels 
and  taken  prisoner.  He  was  taken  to  the  tent  of  General 
Gates,  where  he  remained,  tenderly  cared  for,  until  his  death. 
Wilkinson  gives  the  following  affecting  particulars  of  the 
closing  scenes  of  Gierke's  life:  "On  one  occasion,  the 
wounded  general  inquired  if  the  American  surgeons  were 
good  for  anything,  as  he  did  not  like  the  direction  of  his 
wound,  and  wished  to  know  whether  it  was  fatal,  or  not.  The 
physicians  concealed  their  fears  from  him,  but  carefully 
watched  him  day  and  night.  Seeing  Dr.  Townsend  hesitate 
when  he  pressed  him  for  an  opinion,  he  exclaimed  in  his 
usual  frank  way,  '  Doctor,  why  do  you  pause  ?  Do  you 
think  I  am  afraid  to  die  ?'  and  upon  being  advised  by  that 
phys'jian  to  adjust  his  private  affairs,  he  thanked  him,  and 
quietly  complied."  Burgoyne  said  of  him :  "  He  had  orig- 
inally recommended  himself  to  my  attention  by  his  talents 
and  diligence  ;  as  service  and  intimacy  opened  his  character 
more,  he  became  endeared  to  me  by  every  quality  that  can 
create  esteem.  I  lost  in  him  a  useful  assistant,  an  amiable 
companion,  an  attached  friend  ;  the  State  was  deprived  by 
his  death  of  one  of  the  fairest  promises  of  an  able  general." 
He  died  on  the  13th  of  October  following  his  injury.  Vide 
British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Burke's  Peerage  and  Baronet- 
age, in  loco  ;  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  p.  269;  A 
State  of  the  Expedition,  p.  125. 


:■? 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


i6i 


4 


enemies  colors,  thirteen  stripes,"^  declared  the  day 
was  all  our  own.  This  happy  intelligence  w?,s 
answered  by  the  troops  in  three  huzzas,  and  the  joy 
expressed  by  the  whole,  gave  evident  signs  of  their 
satisfaction  on  so  important  a  victory.  He  informed 
General  Frazier  that  the  enemies  fleet  had  by  some 
means  escaped  ours  on  the  night  of  the  12^'';  but 
the  following  day  ours  came  up,  and  after  a  smart 
action,  burnt,  took  or  destroyed  all  their  vessels  on 


^-'^  A  flag  bearing  thirteen  stripes,  alternate  red  and  white, 
emblematical  of  union,  suggested,  perhaps,  by  the  Roman 
fasces,  was  first  displayed  over  the  American  camp  at  Cam- 
bridge on  the  1st  of  January,  1776,  and  the  next  month 
Commodore  Esek  Hopkins  sailed  from  the  Delaware  to 
operate  against  Lord  Dunmore's  fleet,  which  was  then  on 
the  Virginia  coast,  bearing  the  striped  flag  with  the  addition 
of  a  rattlesnake  stretched  diagonally  across  it  with  the 
words  '■'■  Doiit  tread  on  me''  underneath.  It  was  not  until 
the  14th  of  June,  1777,  that  Congress  **  resolved  that  the 
flag  of  the  United  States  be  thirteen  stripes,  alternate  red 
and  white  ;  that  the  Union  be  thirteen  stars,  white,  in  a 
blue  field,  representing  a  new  constellation."  When  St. 
Lcger  appeared  before  Fort  Schuyler,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  following  August,  the  fort  was  without  a  flag,  and  as  it  was 
necessary  to  have  one.  General  Gansevoort  caused  one  to 
be  made,  in  accordance  with  the  resolve  of  Coiigrc  ^,  by  cut- 
ting the  white  stripes  from  a  shirt,  and  the  red  ones  from 
the  petticoat  of  a  soldier's  wife,  using  the  blue  cloak  of 
Captain  Abraham  Swartwout  to  make  a  field  upon  which  to 
display  the  new  constellation.  This  flag,  Mr.  Wm.  L.  Stone 
informs  us,  is  in  the  possession  of  a  descendant  of  General 
Gansevoort,  by  whom  it  is  cherished  as  a  most  precious 
relic.  As  Digby  does  not  mention  that  the  flag  which  Sir 
Francis  Gierke  had  captured  bore  upon  it  the  stars  or  the 
serpent,  we  must  infer  that  it  was  like  the  one  displayed  at 
Cambridge  at  the  beginning  of  the  year. 

21 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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162 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


the  lake.  That  a  general  Waterbury"*  and  a  great 
many  were  made  prisoners ;  and  that  it  was  general 
Carlton's  orders  we  immediately  strike  our  camp, 
embark  in  our  boats  without  loss  of  time,  and  make 
the  best  of  our  way  to  Crown  Point,  where  we 
should  receive  further  orders.  I  shall  here  insert 
the  fate  of  the  enemies  fleet  on  the  11*''  and  13^'' 
of  October. 

ACCOUNT  OF  THE  ENEMIES  FLEET  ON  LAKE  CHAMPLAIN;C0MMANDED 

BY  BENEDICT  ARNOLD, 


SHIPS    NAME. 

% 
2 

u 

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Weight  of  Metal.  129 

t 

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leys 

Gondolas.  . 

Schooners  . 
Cutters.... 

Congress  —  burnt 

>3 
13 
10 

II 

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12 

»3 
13 
13 
13 
13 

II 

13 

16 

14 
10 

3 
3 
3 
3 
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3 
3 

14 

8 

10 

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WasTiineton  —  taken 

TurnbuU  —  escaped 

Philadelphia  —  sunk 

New  York  —  burnt 

Jersey  —  taken         .  . 

Providence  —  burnt 

Newhaven  —  burnt 

Spitfire  —  burnt 

Boston — burnt     

Connecticut  —  burnt 

Royal   Savage  —  blown  up.. 

Revenge  —  escaped 

Enterprise  —  escaped 

Lee  cutter  —  taken  

'^  David  Waterbury,  Jr.,  was  born  at  Stamford,  Connecti- 
cut, February  12,  1722.  He  was  a  man  of  great  energy 
and  had  a  predilection  for  military  affairs,  having,  ip  1747, 
nearly  thirty  years  before  this  date,  been  an  ensign  in  the 

.  '^The  number  of  guns  and  weight  of  metal  here  given  are 
much  exaggerated.  The  following  is  the  correct  armament 
of  the  vessels,  with  the  names  of  their  commanders : 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal, 


163 


' 


At  TIconderoga  and  had  not  joined  the  fleet, — 
one  row  galley  10  guns,  and  the  schooner  Liberty,  8 

State  militia,  and  subsequently  having  served  through  six 
campaigns  against  the  French  and  Indians.  Naturally  he 
was  one  of  the  first  to  actively  espouse  the  American  cause, 
and  we  behold  him  in  July,  1775,  at  the  head  of  his  regi- 
ment marching  to  occupy  Crown  Point  and  Ticonderoga. 
His  uncompromising  patriotism  rendered  him  harsh  and 
severe  toward  those  who  did  not  support  the  popular  cause  ; 
indeed,  the  historian  of  Stamford  says  that  "  he  seems  to 
have  shown  them  no  mercy.  One  of  the  reasons  given  by 
citizens  in  this  vicinity  for  going  over  to  the  enemy  was  the 
excessive  rigor  of  Colonel  Waterbury."  This  resentment, 
however,  against  traitors,  as  they  were  popularly  but  not 
reasonably  called,  was  general.  Lord  Mahon  says  in  refer- 
ence to  it,  that  "  a  ferocious  saying  came  to  be  current  in 
America  that,  though  we  are  commanded  to  forgive  our 
enemies,  we  are  nowhere  commanded  to  forgive  our  friends." 
General  Carleton  was  elated  at  his  capture,  and  immediately 
reported  it  to  Germaine.  He  was  soon  exchanged  and  again 
in  service.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  returned  to  the 
plough,  and  died  on  his  farm  at  Stamford,  June  29,  1801. 
Vide  History  of  Stamford,  Ct.  (Huntington),  pp.  417-23  ; 
History  of  England  (Mahon),  vol.  6,  p.  127  ;  Sparks*  Life  of 
Washington,  vol.  7,  p.  288;  vol.  8,  pp.  88,  92,  et  passim. 


Vessels'  names. 

Captains, 

i 
& 

0 

U 

% 

a 

s 
S5 

8 
8 
8 
3 
3 
3 
3 
3 
3 
3 
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9 
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9 
9 
4 

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4 

8 
4 

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4 

Row  Galley 

ii               """ 
Gondola 

Congress 

Washington  .. 

Trumbull 

Philadelphia.. 

New  York 

Jersey 

Providence . . . 
New  Haven  .. 

Spitfire 

Boston 

Connecticut. . . 
Royal  Savage. 
Revenge 

Arnold 

Waterbury 

Wigglesworth. 
Rice        

11 

Reed 

It 

Grimes 

Simonds 

Mansfield 

Ulmer 

\K 

*l 

It 

It 

Sumner 

Grant 

It 

Schooner 

Hawley 

Seaman 

II 

<;R.^  1 


164 


Lieutenant  Dighys  Journal. 


guns.     One  of  the  gondaloes,  I  have  no  confirmed 
account  of,  but  believe  she  was  burned  13^*^  October 

THOS  PRINGLE 

Sir  Francis  also  informed  that  general  Arnold 
who  acted  as  commodore,  after  finding  all  was  lost 
some  how  escaped  on  shore,  after  behaving  with 
remarkable  coolness  and  bravery  during  the  engage- 
ment. In  the  following  pages  will  be  seen  how  great 
an  requisition  his  being  taken  would  have  been  to 
us,  as  he  is  certainly  a  brave  man,  and  much  confi- 
dence reposed  in  him  by  their  Congress.  We  em- 
barked about  4  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  though 
we  made  the  greatest  expedition  possible  did  not 
arrive  at  Crown  Point  until  the  20^^  where  our  fleet 
had  been  for  some  days.  The  lake  in  ruff  weather 
is  dangerous  for  battows,  as  there  are  great  swells  in 
many  parts,  but  none  that  did  our  small  fleet  any 
damage ;  and  we  arrived  there  without  any  accident 
happening  to  us.     We  had  good  sport  in  shooting 


«5 

Ci 

• 

£ 

ja 

ja 

£1 

xJ 

A 

Vessels'  names. 

Captains. 

(U 

n 

a 

15 

03 

"0 

M 

A 

bf 

bf 
'u 

•a 

Si 
'3 

b£ 
■3 

3 
4 

• 

Sloop 

Enterprise 

Lee 

Dickenson 

Davis 

12 

6 
8 

-- 

I 

1 

-- 

-- 

rz 
4 
4 

Row  Galley 

Schooner 

Liberty 

Premier 

Total,  16  vessels. 

94 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

Manned  by  800  men. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  British  fleet  carried  a  much  heavier 
weight  of  metal. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


165 


pidgeons,  flocks  of  which  flew  over  us  thick  enough 
to  darken  the  air,  also  large  eagles.     There  were 
herds  of  deer  all  along  the  shore  side,  which  were 
seldom  disturbed,  the  country  being  but  little  altered 
since  its  first  state  of  nature,  except  now  and  then 
a  wandering  party  of  savages  comeing  there  to  hunt 
for  their  subsistance.     At  night  we  landed  and  lay 
warm  enough  in  the  woods,  makeing  large  fires.  When 
it  rained,  it  was  not  so  pleasant,  but  use  reconciled 
all  that  soon  to  us,  and  we  slept  as  sound  under  the 
canopy  of  the  heavens  as  in  the   best  feather  bed. 
Crown  Point  is  a  remarkable  fine  plain,   an  uncom- 
mon sight  to  us  after  being  so  long  buried  in  such 
boundless   woods,  where  our  camp  formed  a  grand 
appearance.     Some  few  families  who  had  not  joined 
the  enemy  lived  there  ;  but  had  suffered  much,  as 
their  cattle  were  mostly  drove  away  for  their  loyalty. 
They  had  a  force  at  Crown  Point  under  the  com- 
mand of  a  Major  Heartly,'3°  who  thought  proper  to 

^^"  Thomas  Hartley  was  a  native  of  Reading,  Pennsylvania, 
and  was  born  September  7,  1748.  He  was  bred  to  the  law, 
and  was  practicing  his  profession  at  York  when  the  war 
broke  out  with  the  mother  country.  He  at  once  threw 
aside  his  Coke  and  Blackstone  and  hastened  with  other 
patriots  to  offer  his  services  to  his  country.  He  received  a 
commission  as  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Sixth  Pennsylvania 
Regiment,  January  9,  1776,  and,  after  Colonel  Irvine  was 
taken  prisoner,  the  command  devolved  upon  him.  He  was 
an  energetic  officer,  and  showed  great  zeal  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  plans  which  were  assigned  to  him  to  carry  out. 
In  common  with  Waterbury  and  other  commanders  in  the 
American  army,  he  was  hostile  to  those  who  espoused  the 
royal  cause,  or  who,  while  professing  neutrality,  were  ready 


in- 


lit  '.  i 
i 


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1    ' 

If' 

M 

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i66 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


retire  to  TIconderoga  on  our  fleet  comeing  so  near 
his  works,  where  they  were  thunder  struck  at  hearing 
of  the  defeat  of  theirs,  thinking  it  scarce  possible. 
Our  loss  on  the  lake  was  about  6o  men  killed  and 
wounded.  Their  general  Waterbury,  &  the  rest  of 
the  prisoners  were  sent  back  to  them  by  general 
Carlton  to  Ticonderoga  on  their  parole,  and  Capt 
Craig '3'  47*^  light  Infantry,  went  as  a  flag  of  truce 

to  afford  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy,  and  he  showed  them 
no  favor.  In  1778,  after  the  massacre  of  Wyoming,  he  led 
an  expedition  into  the  valley,  and  for  his  brave  and  efficient 
conduct  in  the  prosecution  of  this  enterprise,  was  highly 
commended  by  the  government.  Shortly  after,  he  retired 
from  military  life,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Cen- 
sors in  1783,  and  one  of  the  convention  delegates  of  Penn- 
sylvania which  ratified  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
December  12,  1787.  He  was  a  member  of  Congress  from 
1789  until  the  day  of  his  death,  which  took  place  at  York, 
in  his  native  State,  December  21,  1800.  Vide  Revolutionary 
Record,  p.  202  ;. Sparks'  Washington,  vol.  4,  p.  12;  vol.  5, 
p.  422,  et  passim  ;  Field  Book  of  the  Revolution  (Lossing), 
vol.  I,  p.  362,  et  seq.;  Campaign  for  the  Conquest  of  Canada, 
pp.  73,  100,  107,  et  passim. 

^'^  James  H.  Craig  was  born  at  Gibraltar  in  1748,  his  father 
being  judge  of  civil  and  military  affairs  there.  When  he  was 
fifteen  years  of  age,  the  Thirtieth  Foot  was  in  garrison  at 
Gibraltar,  and  young  Craig,  being  infected  with  the  military 
fever,  obtained  through  the  influence  of  his  father  a  com- 
mission as  ensign,  which  bore  date  June  i,  1763.  He  was 
promoted,  July  19,  1769,  to  a  lieutenancy,  and  March  14, 
1771,  was  commissioned  a  captain  in  the  Forty-seventh 
Foot,  which  he  accompanied  to  America  in  1774.  This 
regiment  was  stationed  at  Boston  during  the  siege  of  that 
city,  and  formed  part  of  Lord  Percy's  command  on  that 
memorable  nineteenth  of  April,  when  the  first  battle  for 
American  independence  took  place.     Captain  Craig  was  at 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


167 


•  • 


, 


with  them.  In  return,  they  sent  the  general  a  letter 
of  thanks,  but  would  not  permit  even  the  prisoners 
to  enter  the  fort,  but  sent  them  directly  away,  which 
was  politic  enough,  as  by  their  informing  their 
country  men  how  well  they  had  been  used,  might 

the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  in  which  he  was  wounded.  He 
joined  Carleton  at  Quebec  in  the  spring  of  1776,  and  accom- 
panied him  in  the  campaign  of  that  year.  He  was  also  in 
the  disastrous  campaign  of  Burgoyne,  was  wounded  at  Hub- 
bardton  and  Freeman's  Farm,  and  conducted  the  negotia- 
tions for  the  surrender  of  the  army.  In  these  negotiations 
every  thing  was  done  to  salve  the  wounded  pride  of  Bur- 
goyne and  his  aristocratic  officers,  and,  among  other  things, 
the  term  convention  was  substituted  for  capitulation  in  the 
preparatory  articles  of  surrender,  at  Captain  Craig's  solicita- 
tion. He  went  to  England  after  the  surrender  with  dis- 
patches, where  he  received  the  appointment  of  major  in  the 
Eighty-second  Foot,  and  returned  to  Halifax  in  1778,  and 
was  engaged  during  the  following  year  in  operations  in  east- 
ern Maine.  He  served  through  the  war  of  the  Revolution, 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieiitenant-colonel  of  his  regiment, 
December  31,  1781,  and  of  colonel  in  the  army,  November  18, 
.1790.  In  1794  he  was  made  major-general,  and  the  next 
year  was  appointed  governor  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
having  conducted  a  successful  expedition  thither.  He  re- 
turned to  England  in  1797,  and  was  raised  to  the  peerage  for 
his  efficient  services.  In  January,  1 801,  while  in  India,  where 
he  had  been  in  service  nearly  four  years,  he  received  a  com- 
mission of  lieutenant-general,  and  the  next  year  returned  to 
England,  where  he  was  at  once  assigned  to  a  command.  At 
the  close  of  a  successful  service  in  the  Mediterranean,  he 
received,  in  1807,  the  appointment  of  governor-general  of 
British  North  America.  His  hatred  of  every  thing  savoring 
of  democracy  caused  him  to  act  harshly  toward  every  move- 
ment of  a  liberal  character,  and  he  soon  found  himself  sur- 
rounded by  enemies.  For  four  years  he  held  the  reins  of 
office,  when,  broken  in  health  and  disgusted  with  the  people 
of  the  province,  who  it  v/ould  seem  were  equally  disgusted 


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Lietitenartt  Digby's  Journal. 


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induce  some  to  turn  on  our  side.  Gen  Gates  '^*  then 
commanded  there  ;  of  whom  I  shall  have  occasion 
to  speak  more  of  hereafter.  He  was  formerly  in  our 
service,  but  from  his  wife's  connections,  who  is  an 
American,  he  was  induced  to  change  into  theirs.  He 
is  a  man  much  confidence  is  reposed  in  by  their  Con- 


with  him  on  account  of  his  tyrannical  administration  of 
affairs,  he  returned  home  in  the  summer  of  1811,  and  died 
the  January  following.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ; 
Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times,  pp.  309-317  ;  Journal  of  Occur- 
rences During  the  Late  American  War,  Dublin,  1809,  p.  174  ; 
Gentleman's  Magazine,  vol.  48,  p.  551. 

'^2  Horatio  Gates  was  born  in  1728,  and  it  has  been  asserted 
that  he  was  a  natural  son  of  Horace  Waipole.  Even  as 
recent  and  generally  accurate  a  writer  as  Fonblanque  says, 
"he  was  related  by  marriage  to  the  Earl  of  Thanet,  and 
was  a  godson  (scandal  attributed  a  nearer  relationship)  of 
Horace  Waipole,"  a  statement  precisely  similar  to  that  made 
with  respect  to  the  parentage  of  Burgoyne,  which  was  attrib- 
uted to  Lord  Bingley,  and  which  Fonblanque  labors  to 
disprove.  Strange  to  say,  Fonblanque  does  not  seem  to 
have  thought  of  examining  the  life  of  Waipole  to  ascertain 
what  probability  existed  for  this  story.  Horace  Waipole 
was  born  October  5,  171 7,  and  at  the  time  of  Gates'  birth 
was  less  than  eleven  years  of  age,  and  this  fact,  hitherto 
unnoticed,  should  set  this  idle  story  at  rest ;  but  it  will 
probably  be  repeated  by  careless  writers  till  the  end  of  time. 
Horace  Waipole  was  his  godfather,  and  had  a  brother 
Horatio,  Baron  of  Wol'  ^rton,  and  what  more  probable  than 
that  the  name  of  his  august  kinsman  applied  to  the  obscure 
mfant  of  the  housekeeper  who  was  intimate  with  "  my 
mother's  woman,"  was  an  incipient  display  of  that  humor 
which  subsequently  made  the  genius  of  Waipole  con- 
spicuous? Walpole's  journals  have  been  published,  and, 
fortunately,  he  has  left  an  item  relating  to  the  matter.  He 
says  that  Gates  "  was  the  son  of  a  housekeeper  of  the  second 
Duke  of  Leeds,  who,  marrying  a  young  husband  when  very 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


169 


gress,  but  as  to  what  he  deserves  for  the  exchange,  I 
shall  leave  the  reader  to  judge.  Their  force  then 
at  Ticonderoga,  about  14  miles,  was  said  to  be  20,000, 
and  it  was  thought  from  the  lateness  of  the  season 
and  many  other  reasons,  but  this,  the  one  most 
material,  that   it  would  be  but   a   vain   attempt  to 


old,  had  this  son  by  him.  —  My  mother's  woman  was  inti- 
mate with  that  housekeeper,  and  hence  I  was  godfather  to 
her  son,  though  I  believe  not  then  ten  years  old  myself."  It 
would  almost  seem  that  Walpole  had  heard  that  the  parent- 
age of  Gates  had  been  ascribed  to  him,  and  therefore  placed 
this  statement  on  record  to  refute  it.  When  twenty-six 
years  of  age,  Gates,  who  had  been  bred  to  the  profession  of 
arms,  and  had  served  as  a  volunteer  under  Cornwallis  while 
the  latter  was  governor  of  Halifax,  joined  General  Braddock 
at  Fort  Cumberland,  and  participated  in  the  unfortunate 
campaign  which  ended  so  disastrously  to  the  British  arms. 
In  this  battle  he  was  wounded,  but  more  fortunate  than 
many  of  his  brother  soldiers,  escaped  with  his  life.  He  was 
subsequently  stationed  in  western  New  York  with  his  com- 
pany, and  while  there  was  commissioned  a  brigade  major. 
He  was  then  selected  by  General  Monckton  as  aide-de-camp, 
and  accompanied  that  officer  to  the  West  Indies,  where  he 
gained  attention  by  his  gallantry  in  the  capture  of  Martinico. 
He  was  bearer  of  dispatches  to  London  announcing  the  vic- 
tory, and  was  rewarded  by  being  made  a  major  in  the  Royal 
Americans.  Although  his  advancement  had  been  unusually 
rapid,  he  was  disappointed ;  and  having  married  a  lady  of 
high  connections,  he  sold  his  commission  and  endeavored, 
through  the  influence  of  his  friends  and  the  family  relations 
of  his  wife,  to  obtain  a  lucrative  appointment  under  the 
government.  Failing  in  this,  he  emigrated  to  America  and 
settled  on  an  estate  which  he  purchased  in  Berkeley  county, 
Virginia.  He  was  a  friend  of  Washington,  and  was  dining 
at  Mount  Vernon  when  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington 
was  received.  He  was  at  once  aroused  to  take  part  in  the 
popular  cause,  and  Washington  procured  his  appointment  as 

22 


170 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


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besiege  it  that  year,  we  having  but  a  small  part  of 
the  army  on  that  side  of  the  lake  ;  viz,  the  first  Bri- 
gade and  our  Advanced  corps.  The  remainder  of 
the  army  nor  having  battows  ready  to  remove  from 
St  Johns,  and  the  Isle-aux-Noix,  from  whence  it  was 
thought  by  the   advice  of  the  engineers  who  were 


adjutant  general  with  the  rank  of  a  brigadier.     He  joined 
the  camp  at  Cambridge  in  July,  and  busied  himself  in  organ- 
izing the  raw  recruits,  in  which  service  he  was  very  efficient. 
He  was  made  a  major  general  in   May,   1776,  and   in   the 
June  following,  was  appointed  to  the  command  in  Canada. 
Naturally  of  a  jealous  disposition,  he  was  disturbed  at  the 
ever-growing    popularity   of  Washington    and    instead    of 
assisting,  as  in  duty  bound,  his  old  companion-in-arms  in  his 
arduous  campaign  during  the  winter  of  '^6  and  '']'j,  he  busied 
himself  in  efforts  to  supplant  him.     Washington  was,  how- 
ever, too  magnanimous  to  allow  the  treachery  of  Gates  to 
disturb  him,  and  he  endeavored  to  secure  his  really  valuable 
services  in  reorganizing  the  army  at  his  old  post,  as  adjutant- 
general.     A  conflict  of  authority  now  arose  between  him 
and  Schuyler,  a  pure  and  reasonably  disinterested  patriot, 
which  was  settled  by  Congress,  which  decided  in  favor  of 
Schuyler.     Gates  at  once  proceeded  to  Philadelphia  to  lay 
his  grievances  before  Congress,  but  made  so  poor  a  display 
of  himself  as  to  excite  the  opposition  of  that  body,  and  he 
retired  with  indignation.     The  failure  of  St.  Clair  to  main- 
tain his  position  at  Ticonderoga,  which  was  in  Schuyler's 
department,  gave  an  opportunity  for  the  enemies  of  Schuy- 
ler and  the  friends  of  Gates  to  get  the  former  removed,  and 
he  was  superseded  by  Gates.     When  he  assumed  the  com- 
mand, every  thing  was  in  readiness,  as  far  as  it  possibly  could 
be,  to  meet  the  onset  of  the  advancing  army  of  Burgoyne, 
Schuyler  having  bent  all  his  energies  toward  rendering  the 
advance  of  the  enemy  difficult  and  the  American  army  effi- 
cient, so  that  he  found  nearly  every  thing  shaped  to  his  hand. 
Many  writers  have  criticised  the  action  of  Gates  in  this  cam- 
paign, one  of  whom  we  will  quote  :     Says  Lossing:  "While 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


171 


\ 


( 


consulted  respecting  works,  &^,  that  the  enemy  must 
return  to  winter  in  Canada,  they  not  being  then  able 
to  throw  up  lines  for  above  1300  men,  and  even  then, 
we  should  have  no  place  to  cover  our  troops  from  the 


Arnold  was  wielding  the  fierce  sickle  of  war  without,  and 
reaping  golden  sheaves  for  Gates'  garner,  the  latter  was 
within  his  camp,  more  intent  upon  discussing  the  merits  of 
the  Revolution  with  Sir  Francis  Clarke,  Burgoyne's  aide-de- 
camp, who  had  been  wounded  and  taken  prisoner,  and  was 
lying  upon  the  commander's  bed  at  his  quarters,  than  upon 
winning  a  battle  all  important  to  the  ultimate  triumph  of 
those  principles  for  which  he  professed  so  warm  an  attach- 
ment. When  one  of  Gates'  aids  came  up  from  the  field  of 
battle  for  orders,  he  found  the  general  very  angry  because 
Sir  Francis  would  not  allow  the  force  of  his  arguments.  He 
left  the  room,  and,  calling  his  aid  after  him,  asked,  as  they 
went  out :  '  Did  you  ever  hear  so  impudent  a  son  of  a  b — h  ? ' 
Poor  Sir  Francis  died  that  night  upon  Gates'  bed."  That, 
in  spite  of  his  faults,  which  have  perhaps  been  exaggerated, 
and  for  which  he  subsequently  suffered.  Gates  possessed 
noble  qualities,  is  evidenced  by  his  domestic  correspond- 
ence, the  emancipation  of  his  slaves  and  generous  provision 
for  their  support.  Not  long  before  his  death,  near  the  end 
of  a  disappointed  life,  he  wrote,  expressing  these  noble  senti- 
ments :  **  I  am  very  weak  and  have  evident  signs  of  approach- 
ing dissolution.  But  I  have  lived  long  enough  since  I  have 
lived  to  see  a  mighty  people  animated  with  a  spirit  to  be  free 
and  governed  by  transcendent  abilities  and  power."  He 
died  in  New  York,  April  10,  1806,  at  the  age  of  78.  Vide 
Political  and  Military  Episodes,  p.  283  ;  British  Army  Lists, 
in  loco ;  Last  Journals  of  Horace  Walpole,  London,  1859, 
vol.  2,  p.  200;  George  HI  (Horace  Walpole),  London,  1847, 

Irving's  Life  of  Washington,  vol.  i,  p.  422, 
p.  66;  Life  of  Washington  (Sparks;,  vol.  2, 

pp.  6,  7,  483,  481,  ei passim  ;  Curwen's  Jour- 
nals and  Letters,  N.  Y.,  1842,  p.  475,  et  seq.;  Field  Book  of 
the  Revolution,  vol.  i,  p.  63 ;  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times, 
vol.  I,  p.  269. 


vol.  I,  p.  401 ; 
et  seq. ;  vol.  3, 
p.  469  ;  vol.  3, 


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Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal, 


very  severe  cold  shortly  expected  to  set  in.'^s  The 
cruelty  exercised  by  Major  Heartly  over  the  poor 
inhabitants  was  great ;  burning  many  of  their  habi- 
tations and  small  effects,  and  driveing  away  their 
cattle,  many  of  which  we  found  in  the  woods,  which, 
by  the  general's  order,  were  either  returned  to  the 
owners,  or  an  adequate  price  paid  them  for  such 
cattle  as  were  wanted  for  the  use  of  the  troops, 
and  it  gave  me  the  sincerest  pleasure  to  think 
our  troops  could  relieve  the  miseries  of  the  un- 
f<  tunate  as  well  as  conquer  the  enemies  of  our 
country.  On  general  Burgoyne's  first  hearing  of 
the  compleat  victory  gained  by  our  fleet  over  the 
enemy,  he  gave  out  the  following  orders  to  the  army, 
and  which  I  should  have  inserted  sooner.  In  it,  he 
pays  the  greatest  compliment  to  General  Carlton. — 

^^The  Americans  were  waiting  at  Ticonderoga  with 
anxious  impatience  for  Carleton  to  attack  them,  and  were 
in  excellent  condition  to  receive  him.  Arnold  held  an  im- 
portant command,  and  was  active  in  strengthening  his  posi- 
tion. It  was  supposed  that  an  attack  would  be  made  upon 
the  old  French  lines,  and  every  preparation  was  made  to 
meet  it  there.  Every  precaution  was  taken  by  the  Ameri- 
cans to  prevent  a  surprise,  and  every  effort  resorted  to  in 
order  to  obstruct  the  approaches  to  their  works.  The 
weather  continued  bad,  but  supplies  of  munitions  of  war 
and  of  men  continued  to  arrive.  Gates  wrote  to  Schuyler 
on  the  24th :  "  Carleton  keeps  very  close  to  Crown  Point, 
his  navy  at  anchor  on  his  flanks.  I  have  scouts  constantly 
down  on  both  sides  of  the  lake.  I  apprehend  by  this  time 
his  force  is  all  collected,  and  expect  this  stillness  will  be  suc- 
ceeded by  a  grand  attack.  The  army  here  are  in  good 
spirits  and  think  only  of  victory."  Had  Carleton  followed 
the  urgent  advice  of  Burgoyne  and  Phillips,  there  is  a  fair 
probability  that  he  would  have  met  with  defeat. 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


^n 


General  Orders. 

I  f^  Ocf  Riviere  Sable,  Lieut.  Gen.  Burgoyne,  have- 
ing  received  authentic  intelligence  of  the  late  victory, 
obtained  by  the  commander  in  chief  in  person,  takes 
the  first  moment  to  communicate  to  the  army,  that 
of  the  1 6  vessels  of  which  the  rebel  fleet  consisted 
before  the  action,  three  only  escaped,  all  the  others 
either  taken  or  destroyed.  The  importance  of  the 
conquest  is  not  greater  to  the  national  cause,  than  is 
the  glory  achieved  to  his  majesty's  arms,  conspicuous 
by  the  general  behaviour  of  the  officers  and  men.  It 
is  a  part  of  magnanimity  to  spare  public  demonstra- 
tion of  triumph  on  the  present  occasion  ;  but  it  is 
not  doubted  that  this  army  will  be  affected  with 
every  sentiment  the  brave  are  accustomed  to  feel 
from  present  great  &  glorious  examples. 

24'^  Lieut  Gen  Burgoyne  sailed  in  the  Washington 
prize  for  St  Johns,  from  where  he  was  to  go  by  land 
for  Quebec  where  a  frigate  was  ready  to  sail  with  him 
to  England,  as  it  was  then  determined  the  army  was 
to  return  to  winter  in  Canada,  &  make  their  appear- 
ance early  the  following  season  before  Ticonderoga, 
when  every  thing  necessary  for  the  reduction  of  that 
fort  would  be  in  greater  readiness,  and  the  season 
more  favourable  for  our  operations  than  so  late  in  the 
year,  during  which  time  our  fleet  would  be  masters 
of  the  Lake,  and  the  severity  of  the  winter  too  great 
for  them  to  build  any  vessels  that  could  obstruct 
our   movements   early  in  the   spring;  even  at  that 


'  fli 


174 


Lieutenant  Digbys  JozirnaL 


'I   J 


m 


m  1 


time  the  cold  was  very  severe  and  our  tents  but  a 
small  covering  against  it. 

25^^  Our  Indians,  who  with  Capt°  Frazier  were  ad- 
vanced nearer  their  lines,  took  a  prisoner  and  before 
they  brought  him  to  us  painted  the  poor  devil  in  a 
most  curious  manner,  which  almost  frighted  him  out 
of  his  wits.  It  often  surprised  us  their  not  attacking 
us  at  Crown  Point,  their  numbers  being  so  greatly 
superior  to  ours. 

29^^  Gen  Carlton  and  General  Phillips,'^'*  who 
command  the  Artillery,  went  up  towards  their  lines 

134  William  Phillips  entered  the  Royal  Military  Academy 
at  Woolwich,  August  i,  1746,  as  a  cadet ;  was  made  lieuten- 
ant-fireworker in  the  Artillery,  January  2,  1747;  quarter- 
master of  the  First  Battalion,  April  i,  1750;  second  lieuten- 
ant, March  i,  1755,  and  first  lieutenant,  April  i,  1756.  As 
captain  in  the  Royal  Artillery,  to  which  he  was  commissioned 
May  12,  1756,  he  distinguished  himself  in  Germany.  At  the 
battle  of  Minden,  in  1759,  he  commanded  three  companies 
of  the  Royal  Artillery,  and  was  particularly  thanked  by 
Prince  Ferdinand,  who  testified  his  appreciation  of  his  dis- 
tinguished services  by  a  present  of  a  thousand  crowns.  At 
Warbourg  the  next  year  he  gained  attention  by  his  skill  and 
efficiency  in  handling  his  artillery,  and  August  15th,  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  army.  In 
1768  he  received  the  appointment  of  lieutenant-governor  of 
Windsor  Castle,  and  was  commissioned  a  colonel  in  the  army, 
May  25,  1772.  He  was  elected  in  the  autumn  of  1774  to 
represent  Boroughbridge  in  Parliament,  and  when  the  war 
between  England  and  her  trans-Atlantic  colonies  broke  ouc, 
he  was  commissioned,  January  i,  1776,  a  major-general  for 
service  in  America.  He  had  seen  long  and  arduous  service, 
in  which  he  had  always  shown  great  skill  and  bravery.  He 
it  was  who  planted  his  batteries  upon  Sugar  Loaf  Hill,  which 
forced  the  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga  without  a  battle,  and 
sent  St.  Clair,  discomfited  and  disgraced,  on  his  flight  sou<-h 


III! 

i 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


175 


%■ 


to  reconnoitre  their  strength,  situation  S:*^.  and  which 
by  them  were  thought  of  grt;at  extent  &  force.  By 
deserters  we  heard  they  were  then  receiving  fresh 
suppHes  of  cannon  and  other  stores.  During  the 
months  of  October  and  November,  there  are  frequent 
squalls  of  wind  on  the  Lake,  which  come  momentary 


with  his  shattered  army.  On  April  25,  1777,  he  had  been 
appointed  major  in  the  artillery,  and  on  August  29th,  he 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major-general  in  the  army.  He 
was  fully  trusted  by  Burgoyne,  and  assumed  command  of 
the  captive  troops  after  the  latter's  return  to  England.  He 
was  proud  and  passionate  ;  and,  during  his  captivity  at  Cam- 
bridge, was  confined  by  General  Heath  to  the  limits  of  his 
house  and  grounds  and  the  road  leading  to  the  quarters  of 
his  troops,  for  using  language  which  reflected  upon  the  honor 
and  dignity  of  Congress.  When  in  Virginia  with  the  cap- 
tive army,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Jefferson,  and  was 
hospitably  entertained  by  him  and  Mrs.  Jefferson  at  their 
mansion.  Jefferson  afterward  spoke  of  him  as  **  the  proudest 
man  of  the  proudest  nation  on  earth."  He  was  exchanged 
on  the  25th  of  October,  1780,  and  the  following  spring  set 
out  upon  an  expedition  into  Virginia.  He  was  accompanied 
by  Benedict  Arnold,  who  had,  since  his  last  battle  against 
Phillips,  at  Saratoga,  joined  the  British  side.  On  this  expe- 
dition Phillips  contracted  a  fever  and  died  at  Petersburg, 
May  13th.  While  he  lay  upon  his  death-bed,  Lafayette 
appeared  upon  the  heights  opposite  Petersburg  and  began 
a  cannonade  of  the  British  position,  one  of  his  cannon  balls 
going  through  the  dying  general's  chamber  and  killing  a 
female  negro  attendant.  Vide  Travels  Through  the  Interior 
Parts  of  America,  vol.  2,  p.  506,  British  Arm)/  Lists,  in  loco  ; 
History  of  the  Royal  Artillery  (Duncan),  London,  1872,  vol. 
I,  pp.  207-217;  A  State  of  the  Expedition,  Appendices 
XLVHI,  LIV;  Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  pp.  166,  169, 
et  passim ;  Simcoe's  Journal,  London,  ^'J^'J,  pp.  129-146; 
Life  of  Jefferson  (Randolph),  pp.  50,  53  ;  Historical  Maga- 
zine, vol.  9,  p.  247.      ...... 


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ill- 


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176 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


off  the  land  and  do  great  damage  particularly  to  small 
craft.  A  few  days  before,  the  Carlton  being  under 
way  and  cruising  on  the  Lake,  one  of  these  sudden 
squalls  was  very  near  laying  her  on  her  beam  ends. 

30.  Our  floating  battery  sailed  for  St  Johns  with 
stores  &^  which  opportunity  we  took  to  forward 
letters  to  Montreal  post,  in  order  to  their  being 
sent  to  our  friends  in  Great  Britain,  as  few  vessels 
ever  sail  from  Quebec  after  the  15***  November  on 
account  of  the  frost,  which  begins  to  set  in  with  great 
violence  about  that  time,  after  which  Canada  is  as 
much  shut  out  from  all  communication  with  the  rest 
of  the  world  as  possible,  particularly  then,  as  the 
country  from  Ticonderoga  was  in  possession  of  the 
enemy. 

November  2"^^.  We  embarked  in  our  battows  and 
long  boats  for  Canada,  ana  proceeded  about  17 
miles,  where  our  small  fleet  were  obliged  to  put 
into  a  creek,  the  wind  blowing  very  fresh,  though 
fair  for  us,  but  causing  a  deep  swell  which  was  not 
so  safe  for  the  battows ;  as  to  the  long  boats  there 
was  but  little  danger.  Our  soldiers  called  this  place 
Destruction  Bay,  and  not  unaptly,  as  there  we  saw 
the  great  execution  the  enemy  suffered  from  the  fire 
of  our  fleet  in  the  engagement  on  the  11'^  and  13*^ 
October.  Some  of  their  dead  were  then  floating  on 
the  brink  of  the  water,  just  as  the  surf  threw  them  ; 
these  were  ordered  to  be  directly  buried.  During 
the  night  it  blew  fresh  and  was  attended  with  a  fall 
of  snow  which  was   the   first  we  had  experienced. 


f 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


177 


The  weather  being  fair  we  got  under  way,  and  with 
both  sails  and  oars  got  a  good  distance  before  night. 

6'\  After  a  variety  of  weather,  we  made  Point-au- 
faire.  We  had  a  strong  gale  of  wind  crossing  over 
Cumberland  Bay,  where  we  could  not  keep  the  shore 
without  going  six  times  the  distance  at  least,  and  this 
short  cut,  if  I  can  call  it  so,  was  near  endangering 
many  of  our  battows.  Near  that,  we  saw  the  wreck 
of  the  Royal  Savage,  and  had  the  rest  of  their  fleet 
behaved  as  well  as  she  did,  we  should  not  have  been 
so  easyly  masters  of  the  Lake,  We  found  one  Artil- 
lery man  of  ours  who  fell  the  13'*^;  him  we  buried. 
At  night  we  made  large  fires  as  before,  and  lay 
round  them,  keeping  our  feet  always  next  the  fire,  as 
when  they  are  warm  the  body  is  seldom  cold. 

9^\  Embarked  for  St  Johns  after  remaining  at 
Point-au-faire  from  the  6'^  on  account  of  the  delay 
in  getting  over  provisions  ammunition  &^  &^,  all 
which  were  sent  down  to  St  Johns  before  our  moveing 
from  that  post.  We  also  brought  with  us  the  fami- 
lies who  resided  before  at  Crown  Point,  as  it  would 
have  been  cruel  to  have  left  them  to  the  mercy  of 
the  enemy,  who  no  doubt  would  persecute  them,  for 
their  attachment  to  us.  We  had  scarce  pushed  off 
the  shore,  about  break  of  day,  when  the  greatest  fog 
arose  I  ever  beheld,  and  which  prevented  our  seeing 
above  3  or  4  yards  from  our  boat's  bow,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  we  separated,  some  steering  one 
way  and  some  the  other.  Brig  Gen  Frazier  caused 
drums  to  beat  in  his  boat,  by  which  he  collected  many 


■j5nti 


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'78 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


others,  but  in  place  of  going  to  St  Johns  he  went 
directly  the  opposite  course  back  to  the  Isle  of  mott, 
where  he  thought  proper  to  land  and  wait  till  next 
day,  which  was  clear.  Our  boat,  by  great  good 
fortune,  made  St  Johns  before  night,  though  we  saild 
round  a  small  island  twice,  thinking  it  the  main  land. 
At  night  we  found  a  hearty  reception  from  our  Regi- 
ment, who  garrisoned  that  fort  and  had  not  crossed 
the  Lake.  * 

Io'^  The  remainder  of  cur  Corps  came  down,  the 
day  being  clear.  Our  ships  were  all  laid  up  at  this 
place  for  the  winter,  masts  and  rigging  taken  from 
them,  and  the  ice  broke  round  every  morning  and 
evening  to  prevent  their  keels  from  suffering  by  the 
severe  frosts  then  shortly  expected. 

i^th^  We  marched  for  Vershere,'35aneat  village  on 
the  banks  of  the  river  St  Lawrence,  and  about  six 
leagues  below  Montreal. 

135  Vercheres  is  a  small  village  on  the  right  bank  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  twenty-three  miles  below  Montreal,  and  is  still 
a  small  village,  its  population  not  greatly  exceeding  one 
thousand  persons.  It  derives  its  name  curiously  from  a 
heroine,  Madame  de  Verchere,  who  in  the  year  1690,  being 
left  alone  in  the  little  palisaded  block-house  here,  while  the 
few  people  who  composed  the  hamlet  were  at  work  in  a  dis- 
tant clearing,  perceived  a  party  of  Indians  approaching  to 
attack  the  place.  She  instantly  seized  a  gun  and  fired  upon 
them ;  and  although  several  attempts  were  made  to  scale 
the  palisade,  she  kept  them  at  bay  until  help  arrived.  At 
another  time  a  larger  body  of  savages  attacked  and  took 
prisoners  all  the  men  who  were  laboring  in  the  fields. 
Madame  Verchere  with  one  soldier,  her  daughter  and  other 
women,  were  in  the  block-house,  and  seeing  their  husbands 


mmm 


Lieutcjiant  Dighys  Joicrnal. 


179 


i6'\  Our  battallion  of  Grenadiers  arrived  at  Ver- 
chere  our  winter  quarters,  after  a  pleasant  and  agree- 
able march,  and  our  men  were  billeted  through  the 
parish,  2  or  3  in  each  house.  The  army  were  quar- 
tered in  like  manner  through  the  province,  where 
there  were  prepared  good  stoves  and  plenty  of  fuel 
to  enable  us  to  bear  comfortably  the  severity  of  the 
approaching  season,  as  during  that  time  every  thing 
is  froze.  All  kinds  of  provisions  are  laid  up  in  that 
frozen  state,  during  the  winter,  and  when  wanted  to 
be  used,  are  gently  thawed  in  cold  water  for  some 
time  and  then  cooked,  when  they  eat  perhaps  after 
being  months  killed,  as  well  as  if  just  before  slaugh- 
tered ;  and,  were  a  thaw  to  take  place  during  the 
winter  months,  there  would  be  every  prospect  of  a 
famine  in  the  province,  as  at  the  setting  in  of  the 
frost,  such  eatables  as  are  to  serve  the  inhabitants 
for  near  half  the   year  are  all  slaughtered ;  cows, 

taken  prisoners,  many  of  the  women  made  loud  lamenta- 
tions. To  prevent  their  cries  from  reaching  the  Indians, 
and  encouraging  them  in  their  designs  upon  the  fort,  she 
shut  them  up,  and  hastily  assuming  the  garb  of  a  soldier, 
trained  a  cannon  upon  the  foe.  She  resorted  to  the  strata- 
gem of  firing  first  from  one  embrasure  and  then  from 
another,  and  prevented  the  Indians,  who  supposed  the  fort 
held  a  considerable  number  of  defenders,  from  taking  it 
until  a  force  arrived  from  the  fort  at  Chambly  where  the 
cannon  had  been  heard,  and  not  only  raised  the  siege,  but 
was  fortunate  enough  to  rescue  the  prisoners  who  were  in 
the  hands  of  the  savages.  Madame  Verchere  subsequently 
returned  to  Normandy,  where,  at  her  death,  a  tombstone 
was  reared  over  her,  upon  which  was  placed  an  inscription 
comimemorating  these  acts  of  bravery. 


i8o 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


i 


]i> 


ii:: 

■if  ■    5     ■ 


beeves  pigs  and  all  sorts  of  fowls  [are]  laid  up  in  this 
manner,  nay,  I  have  seen  cream  hawked  through 
the  streets  of  Quebec  and  sold  by  weight,  carried 
in  a  basket.  The  great  river  St  Lawrence  in  one 
night's  frost  will  have  ice  thick  enough  to  bear  any 
carriage.  Then  the  Carrioling,'^''  which  is  the  princi- 
pal amusement  of  the  Canadians,  commences.  That 
carriage  from  the  great  velocity  it  moves  on  the  snow 
&  ice,  from  its  easy  and  pleasant  motion  seems  to 
engross  all  their  attention  during  the  winter  months. 
It  is  drawn  by  one  or  two  horses,  which  in  Canada 
are  excellent  for  the  draught,  tho  in  general  small, 
and  is  rather  a  help,  so  very  easy  is  the  draught  to  the 
horses,  to  keep  them  steady  on  the  ice.  The  persons 
seated  in  the  Caryole,  generally  two,  are  dressed 
entirely  in  furs.  The  ladies'  [furs]  in  general  and  of 
the  higher  rank  are  elegant,  so  famous  in  that  part  of 
the  world  to  protect  them  from  the  severe  cold  ;  but, 
yet  it  is  pleasant,  the  sky  being  quite  serene  and  not 
a  cloud  to  be  seen  in  the  hemisphere.  Thus  equipt 
you  parade  over  the  ice  &  snow  amidst  perhaps  a 
hundred  other  caryoles,  painted  in  the  most  gaudy 

'^  This  is  a  word  of  purely  Canadian  coinage,  and  has 
passed  unnoticed  by  lexicographers.  "  Carriole  "  is  a  French 
word  for  a  small,  light  carriage,  and,  strangely  enough,  has 
been  metamorphosed  into  carryall  and  applied  to  a  cumber- 
some vehicle  formerly  much  in  vogue  in  New  England,  but 
unknown  in  Europe.  Hadden  gives  the  word  as  "  cabri- 
oling"  a  word  of  very  different  etymology,  from  caper,  a 
goat,  referring  especially  to  the  leaping  motion  of  that  ani- 
mal, and  applied  also  to  a  carriage  (cabriolet  and  cab),  which 
originally  was  a  small  one-horse  carriage  (cabriolet  and  cab), 
to  which  the  horse  imparted  a  jerking  motion. 


f 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


i8i 


r 


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. 


colours,  wh'  .1  from  the  great  contrast  of  the  snow 
has  a  beautiful  effect.  The  ice  is  much  smoother 
and  better  for  this  amusement  before  a  snow  storm, 
which  is  there  frequent ;  but  yet  the  idea  of  the 
water  being  deep  enough  under  you  to  float  a  ship 
of  the  line,  and  the  ice  so  very  transparent  as  fish 
to  be  seen  under  it,  has  rather  an  alarming  a^^pear- 
ance  to  a  stranger,  though  very  seldom  accidents 
happen  —  as  by  an  order  from  the  governor  the  roads 
are  marked  out  on  the  river,  keeping  clear  of  all 
springs,  many  of  which  are  to  be  found  on  the  St 
Lawrence  —  except  at  the  breaking  up  of  the  ice  —  the 
thaw  generally  coming  on  about  the  latter  end  of 
March — when  Caryoles  are  sometimes  lost;  for  ex- 
ample one  officer  of  our  regiment,  Captain  Scott  '^7 

^^  Alexander  Scott  belonged  to  a  noted  Scotch  family 
known  as  the  Scotts  of  Logie,  and  was  commissioned  an 
ensign  in  the  Thirty-seventh  Foot,  October  3,  1757.  He  was 
advanced  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant,  May  17,  1759,  and  served 
with  his  regiment  through  the  French  war,  when,  in  1763, 
his  regiment,  the  Seventy-fifth  Foot,  which  was  composed 
of  the  Second  Battalion  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Foot  — 
that  battalion  having  been  detached  and  so  numbered  in 
1759  —  was  disbanded.  From  that  time  until  February  11, 
1767,  he  was  on  half  pay,  but  on  the  date  named  was  made 
a  lieutenant  in  the  Fifty-third  Foot  while  it  was  stationed  at 
Gibraltar.  The  next  year  he  accompanied  his  regiment  to 
Ireland,  and,  when  it  was  ordered  to  America  in  the  spring 
of  '76,  he  accompanied  it,  and  served  through  the  campaign 
of  that  year,  being  assistant  commissary  of  Powell's  Brigade. 
In  a  note  to  Hadden's  Journal  and  Orderly  Books,  p.  206,  he 
is  stated  to  have  served  through  the  Burgoyne  campaign,  and 
to  have  died  in  1778  ;  but  this  statement  of  Digby  corrects 
the  error.  Vide  Burke's  Landed  Gentry  and  British  Army 
Lists,  in  loco.  — 


« 


M 


182 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


and  one  of  47'''  regiment,  Cap  Lestrangc/^^  both 
unfortunately  lost  their  lives  in  this  manner.  The 
thaw  is  attended  with  a  tremendous  noise,  the  ice 
rushing  down  from  the  great  Lakes  in  large  bodies 
crushing  all  before  them  many  leagues  after  clearing 
the  gulph,  and  rendering  the  approach  of  ships  to 
that  coast  at  this  time  of  the  year  very  dangerous. 

All  the  great  Lakes  and  Rivers  we  passed  during 
the  summer  in  boats  and  battows  were  at  this  season 
of  the  year  fine  plains  for  caryoling. — The  cold  is 
so  very  intense,  that  we  have  had  port  wine  froze 
in  the  bottles,  though  in  a  room  with  a  stove.  On 
going  out  in  the  air,  you  must  be  very  well  raped  up 
with  furs  or  the  most  tender  parts  will  be  frost 
bitten,  which  the  only  remedy  for  is  being  well 
rubbed  with  sno  /,  else  the  part  will,  perhaps,  mortify 
or  drop  off.  Some  few  of  our  men  have  suffered  in 
this  manner  through  their  own  carelessness,  as  they 


^^  Richard  L'Estrange  entered  the  Forty-seventh  Foot  as 
an  ensign,  June  13,  1765.  He  was  promoted,  November  6, 
1769,  to  the  rank  of  captain-lieutenant,  and  to  that  of  captain, 
May  25,  1772.  At  the  date  of  his  latter  promotion,  the 
Forty-seventh  was  stationed  at  Ireland,  from  whence  it  sailed 
for  America  in  1773.  The  Forty-seventh,  which  had  before 
seen  service  in  America,  having  distinguished  itself  under 
Wolfe  at  the  fall  of  Quebec,  was  one  of  the  regiments  ordered 
to  Boston  at  the  beginning  of  troubles  there,  and  in  the  bat- 
tles of  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill,  Captain  L'Estrange 
participated.  After  the  evacuation  of  Boston,  he  sailed  with 
his  regiment  to  Halifax,  and  soon  after  joined  General  Carle- 
ton's  command  and  participated  in  the  campaign  of '76,  which 
was  his  last.  Vide  Historical  Record  of  the  Forty-seventh 
Foot  and  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco. 


LietUaia7it  Digbys  Joicrr^al. 


•83 


were  all  provided  with  caps,  gloves,  blankets  coats, 

A  poor  fellow  of  our  company  died  during  the 
winter,  and  we  found  it  a  most  difficult  affair  to 
bury  him.  After  near  a  days  labor  with  crows,  pick- 
axes &^  we  had  a  grave  dug  for  him,  the  ground 
being  froze  above  six  feet  deep.  This  was  matter 
of  surprise  to  the  Canadians,  who  place  their  dead 
at  this  season  in  a  small  habitation  built  beside  their 
places  of  worship,  where  they  remain  froze  till  the 
warm  weather  allows  them  burial. —  At  this  time  the 
wolves  and  bears  come  from  the  woods  to  pick  up 
food,  when  the  former  are  dangerous  ;  they  are  taken 
in  traps  when  they  howl  most  dreadfully.  We  killed 
a  fine  bear  and  his  flesh  proved  not  very  bad  ;  at 
least  it  was  a  variety.  It  had  a  young  cub  which  we 
tamed  and  in  a  little  time  was  very  tractable.  All 
the  hares  turn  at  this  season  as  white  as  snow,  as 
indeed  do  many  other  beasts  in  more  nothern  countrys. 
Nothing  but  a  melancholy  white  strikes  the  eye  on 
every  side,  and  [there  is  nothing]  which  takes  the 
place  [better]  of  that  beautiful  variety  of  colours, 
which  is  the  greatest  ornament  of  the  country,  than 
[the]  trees,  which  appear  planted  in  the  snow  and 
which  present  to  our  sight  only  hoary  heads  and 
branches  loaded  with  icicles.  During  the  winter 
there  were  balls,  assemblys  &*^  at  Quebec  and  Mon- 
treal ;  the  former  is  the  seat  of  the  Governor,  who 
lives  in  a  great  degree  of  elegance,  and  as  absolute 
in  his  government  as  possible.  Gen  Carlton,  notwith- 


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184 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


standing  his  severity,  was  much  liked  by  the  Cana- 
dians, perhaps  fear  might  have  something  to  say  in 
that  case.'^'  General  Phillips  commanded  at  Mon- 
treal, and  general  Riedzel,  of  the  foreign  troops,  at 

Trois  Riviere.     The  persons  of  the  Canadians , 

but  I  am  exceeding  the  bounds,  I  at  first  prescribed 
in  my  preface,  by  a  digression  no  doubt  tedious  & 
tiresome  to  the  reader. — 

Thus  situated  we  passed  the  Winter  in  as  agreeable 
a  manner  as  was  in  our  power,  with  an  expectation 
of  opening  the  campaign  early  the  ensueing  season, 

'^^  Reference  has  been  made — ante,  note  68  —  to  the 
French  historian,  Garneau's  statement,  that  General  Carle- 
ton,  on  his  return  to  Canada,  punished  most  barbarously 
with  fire  and  sword  those  Canadians  who  had  exhibited  sym- 
pathy with  their  brother  colonists  from  the  south,  who  had 
invaded  their  country.  It  is  strange  that  neither  Hadden, 
Pausch  nor  Digby  alluded  to  this,  a  matter  which  ought 
naturally  to  have  engaged  their  attention.  The  nearest 
approach  to  such  an  allusion  is  this  of  Digby,  and  is  not 
sufficient  to  base  an  opinion  upon.  From  the  absence  in 
these  journals  of  any  statement  bearing  out  the  assertion  of 
Garneau,  we  may  infer  that  it  is  exaggerated. 

END    OF    THE    FIRST    CAMPAIGN.         » 


■■■\  \  \ 


■ 


li 


CAMPAIGN   OF    1777. 

BY  AN  OFFICER  IN  THE  NORTHERN  ARMY, 

UNDER   THE   COMMAND  OF   HIS   EXCELLENCY 

LIEUT.-GEN.  JOHN  BURGOYNE. 

TO  THEIR  CAPTURE  AT 

SARATOGA. 


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3"! 


SECOND   CAMPAIGN, 


1777. 


AY  6,  1777.  Lieut.  General  Burgoyne  made 
Quebec  in  the  Apollo  frigate,  with  orders 
from  Government,  to  take  the  command  of 
the  army,  which,  though  it  pleased  the  troops  in  gen- 
eral, yet  caused  some  surprise  at  General  Carlton's 
being  set  aside  ;  and  which  could  be  accounted  for  only 
in  the  following  manner;  first  his  not  being  able  as 
Governor  to  leave  the  province,  as  were  he  to  effect  a 
junction  with  General  Howe,  who  was  appointed  Com- 
mander in  chief  of  all  America,  and  which  was  thought 
very  probable,  General  Carlton,  as  the  oldest  officer, 
must  have  taken  the  command,  from  whence  it  was 
judged  better  not  to  let  them  clash  ;  some  gave  another 
reason,  which,  I  think,  must  appear  an  unjust  one, 
namely,  his  not  attempting  to  reduce  Ticonderoga  the 
preceding  season  ;  and  I  am  positive  every  officer  in 
the  army,  if  called  upon,  would  acquit  him  of  acting 
imprudently  in  retireing  from  that  place  to  winter 
in  Canada,  the  season  being  so  very  severe  and  far 


,  '.: 


i 


Irl- 


i88 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


advanced. "*°  The  troops  were  assembled  at  St  Johns 
ready  to  cross  over  Lake  Champlain.  The  31^^  29^*^ 
and  34^*^  regiments  were  left  to  garrison  Canada.  The 
troops  were  all  in  the  greatest  health  and  much  im- 
proved since  their  sailing  from  Great  Britain  ;  as 
many  were  then  recruits,  they  were  also  better  inured 
to  the  climate  than  the  preceding  season,  and  General 
Burgoyne  seemed  extremely  pleased,  as  indeed  he 
must  have  been,  with  the  good  appearance  of  the 
army  on  taking  the  field  ;  and  I  make  no  doubt,  but 
the  expectations  of  the  people  at  home  were  sanguine 
respecting  his  opperations  necessary  for  the  junction 
with  the  Southern  army,  under  the  command  of 
General  Howe.  On  his  takeing  the  comnand,  he 
gave  out  the  following  manifesto  or  proclamation, 
intending  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  Americans,  where 
his  army  was  intended  to  act,  and  as  he  afterwards 
says  in  the  House  of  Commons,  rather  to  hold  out 
terrors,  than  put  them  into  execution.  Many  copies 
were  soon  dispersed  through  the  Provinces  of  the 
enemy.  How  it  was  attended  to  will  be  seen  in  the 
following  pages. 


^^°The  subject  of  placing  Burgoyne  in  command  of  the 
campaign  about  to  be  inaugurated,  was  widely  discussed  at 
home  as  well  as  in  the  army,  and  Burgoyne  was  openly 
accused  by  his  adversaries  of  having  supplanted  a  brother 
officer  by  the  use  of  means  not  honorable  to  a  soldier.  This 
charge  he  met  and  refuted  in  Parliament.  On  the  other 
hand,  many  saw  in  the  action  of  the  government  a  disap- 
proval of  Carleton's  management  of  the  previous  cam- 
paign. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


189 


•SQ 


i 


By  John  Burgoyne,  E' 

Lieutenant  General  of  his  Majesties  Armies  in 
America,  Col°  of  the  Queen's  regiment  of  Light 
Dragoons,  Governor  of  Fort  William  in  North  Brit- 
ain, One  of  the  representatives  of  the  Commons  of 
Great  Britain  in  Parliament  and  Commanding  an 
army  and  fleet  employed  in  an  expedition  from 
Canada  &^  &^  &^ 

The  forces  intrusted  to  my  command  are  designed  to 
act  in  concert  and  upon  a  common  principle  with  the 
numerors  armies  and  fleets  which  already  display  in 
every  quarter  of  America  the  Power,  the  Justice 
(and  when  properly  sought)  the  Mercy  of  the  King. 
The  cause,  in  which  the  British  arms  are  exerted, 
applies  to  the  most  affecting  interests  of  the  human 
heart,  and  the  military  servants  of  the  crown,  at  first 
called  forth  for  the  sole  purpose  of  Restoring  the 
rights  of  the  Constitution,  now  Combine  with  love  of 
their  Country,  and  duty  to  their  Sovereign,  the  other 
extensive  incitements  which  spring  from  a  true  sense 
of  the  general  privileges  of  mankind.  To  the  eyes 
and  ears  of  the  temperate  part  of  the  public,  and  to 
the  breasts  of  the  suffering  thousands  in  the  Prov- 
inces, be  the  melancholy  appeal,  whether  the  present 
unnatural  Rebellion  has  not  been  made  a  foundation 
for  the  completest  system  of  tyranny  that  ever  God, 
in  his  displeasure  suffered  for  a  time  to  be  exercised 
over  a  froward  and  stubborn  generation.  Arbitrary 
Imprisonment,  confiscation  of  property,  Persecution 


Mil 


190 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


and  torture  unprecedented  in  the  Inquisition  of  the 
Romish  Church  are  amongst  the  palpable  enormities 
that  verefy  the  affirmative.  These  are  inflicted  by 
Assemblys  and  Committees,  who  dare  to  profess 
themselves  friends  to  Liberty,  upon  the  most  quiet 
subjects,  without  distinction  of  age  or  sex,  'for  the 
sole  crime,  often  for  the  sole  suspicion,  of  having 
adhered  in  principle  to  the  Government  under  which 
they  were  born,  and,  to  which,  by  every  tie  Divine 
&  Human,  they  owe  allegiance.  To  consummate 
these  shocking  proceedings,  the  profanation  of  re- 
ligion is  added  to  the  most  profligate  prostitution  of 
common  reason  ;  the  consciences  of  men  are  set  at 
naught,  and  multitudes  are  compelled,  not  only  to 
bear  arms,  but  also  to  swear  subjection  to  an  usur- 
pation they  abhor.  Animated  by  these  considera- 
tions, at  the  head  of  troops  in  full  power  of  health, 
discipline  and  valour,  determined  to  strike  when 
necessary,  and  anxious  to  spare  when  possible.  I 
by  these  presents,  invite  and  exhort  all  persons,  in 
all  places  where  the  progress  of  this  army  may  point, 
(and  by  the  blessing  of  God  I  will  extend  it  far)  to 
mentain  such  a  conduct  as  may  justify  in  protecting 
their  lands,  Habitations  and  Families.  The  inten- 
tion of  this  address,  is  to  hold  forth  security,  not 
depredation  to  the  country.  To  those  whom  spirit 
and  principle  may  induce  to  partake  [in]  the  glorious 
task  of  redeeming  their  countrymen  from  dungeons, 
and  reestablishing  the  blessings  of  Legal  Govern- 
ment, I  offer  encouragement  and  employment,  and 


I 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


191 


upon  the  first  intelligence  of  their  associating,  I  will 
find  means  to  assist  their  undertakings.  The  Domes- 
tic, the  industrious,  the  infirm  and  even  the  timid 
inhabitants  I  am  desirous  to  protect,  provided  they 
remain  quietly  in  their  houses  ;  that  they  do  not  sufTer 
their  cattle  to  be  removed,  nor  their  corn  or  forage 
to  be  secreted  or  destroyed ;  that  they  do  not  break 
up  their  bridges  or  roads,  nor  by  any  other  acts, 
directly  or  indirectly,  endeavor  to  obstruct  the  oppe- 
rations  of  the  Kings  troops,  or  supply  or  subsist  those 
of  the  enemy,  every  species  of  provision  brought  to 
my  camp  will  be  paid  for  at  an  equitable  rate  and  in 
solid  coin.  The  consciousness  of  Christianity,  my 
Royal  Master's  clemency,  and  the  honour  of  soldier- 
ship, I  have  dwelt  upon  in  this  invitation,  and  wished 
for  more  persuasive  terms  to  give  it  impression  ;  and 
let  not  people  be  led  to  disregard  it  by  considering 
their  distance  from  the  immediate  situation  of  my 
camp.  I  have  but  to  give  stretch  to  the  Indian  forces 
under  my  direction,  (and  they  amount  to  thousands) 
to  overtake  the  hardened  enemies  of  Great  Britain 
and  America.  I  consider  them  the  same  where  ever 
they  may  lurk.  If  notwithstanding  these  endeavours, 
and  sincere  inclinations  to  efTect  them,  the  phrensy  of 
hostility  should  remain,  I  trust  I  shall  stand  acquit- 
ted in  the  eyes  of  God  and  men  in  denouncing  and 
executing  the  vengeance  of  the  State  against  the  wil- 
ful outcasts.  The  messengers  of  Justice  and  wrath 
await  them  in  the  field,  and  Devastation,  famine  and 
every  concomitant  horror  that  a  reluctant  but  indis- 


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192 


Lieutena7it  Digbys  Journal. 


pensible  prosecution  of  military  duty  must  occasion, 
will  bar  the  way  to  their  return."*' 

General  Orders. 
Disposition  of  the  army  under  the  Command  of 
Lieu*  Gen^  Burgoyne. 

"'  Many  humorous  replies  were  made  to  this  high-sound- 
ing proclamation  of  Burgoyne,  one  of  which  Digby  himself 
gives  us.  Another,  ascribed  to  William  Livingston,  Gov- 
ernor of  New  Jersey,  was  especially  witty,  and  purported  to 
be  an  agreement  for  exchange  of  prisoners,  supposing  the 
commander-in-chief  himself  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Ameri- 
cans. It  was  arranged  in  articles,  in  which  his  various  titles 
were  appropriately  numbered,  and  a  value  set  upon  each  for 
purposes  of  exchange.  Thus  it  was  proposed  to  give,  as 
follows : 

For  John  Burgoyne  Esquire,  some  worthy  justice  of  the  peace. 
For  J.  B.  lieut.  gen.  of  his  maj''  armies  in  Am.  2  major  generals. 
For  J.  B.  Col.  queen's  reg.  It.  dragoons,  at  least  3  Continental  colonels. 
For  J.  B.  gov.  of  fort  Wm.  in  N.  Britain,  i  Gov.  because  his  multititu- 
lary  excellency  is  gov.  of  a  fort  &  2  as  that  f.  is  in  North  Britain. 
"  5.  For  J.  B.  one  of  the  representatives  of  Great  Britain,  the  first  member 

of  Congress  who  may  fall  into  the  enemy's  hands. 
"  6.  For  J.  B.  com.  of  a  fleet  employed  on  an  expedition  to  Canada,  the 

admiral  of  our  navy. 
"  7.   For  J.  B.  com.  of  an  army  employed  in  an  expedition  from  Canada,  i 

commander  in  chief  in  any  of  our  departments. 
"  8.  For  J.  B.  &c.  &c.  &c.  which  he  humorously  discusses,  3  privates." 

Washington  issued  a  counter-proclamation,  which  was  in 
strong  contrast  to  Burgoyne's,  being  characterized  by  simple, 
but  lofty  and  dignified  sentiments.  It  closed  with  these 
noble  words:  ^^  Harassed  as  ive  are  by  unrelenting  persecu- 
tion, obliged  by  every  tie  to  repel  violence  by  force,  urged  by 
self-preservation  to  exert  the  strength  zvhich  Providence  has 
given  us  to  defend  our  natural  rights  against  the  aggressor, 
zue  appeal  to  the  hearts  of  all  mankind  for  the  justice  of  our 
cause ;  its  event  we  leave  to  Him,  ivho  speaks  the  fate  of 
nations,  in  humble  confidence  that  as  his  omniscient  eye  taketh 
note  even  of  the  sparroiv  that  falleth  to  the  ground,  so  he  will 
not  zvithdraw  his  countenance  from  a  people  who  humbly  array 
themselves  under  his  banner  in  defense  of  the  fioblest  prificiples 
with  which  he  has  adorned  humanity T 


"  I. 
"  2. 

"3. 

"4- 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal.  193 

Brigadier  General  Frazier  will  be  joined  by  the 
Canadian  companies  of  Moning  and  Boucherville,"''' 
Capt"  Frazier's  detachment  and  a  body  of  Savages. 
The  German  Grenadiers,  Chassieures,  Light  Infantry 
under  the  command  of  Lieu^  Col°  Bremen"*^  form  a 
corps  of  Reserve,  and  will  never  encamp  in  the  line. 
The  regiment  of  Riedesel's  Dragoons  is  also  out  of 
the  Line,  and  for  the  present,  will  be  employed  to 
cover  head  quarters.  The  provincial  corps  of  Peters  '*'* 

^^2  Rene  Antoine  de  Bo  icherville  was  born  at  Cataracouy, 
the  Indian  name  of  a  settlement  which  occupied  the  site  of 
the  present  busy  town  of  Kingston,  on  February  12,  i/SS- 
He  was  an  active  partisan  in  the  war,  and  subsequently  at- 
tained prominence  in  political  affairs,  becoming  a  member 
of  the  Canadian  Legislative  Council,  and  occupying  other 
official  positions.  He  died  at  Boucherville,  Canada,  Sep- 
tember 2,  1812.  Colonel  Rogers  questions  the  identity  of 
the  officer  mentioned  in  this  journal  with  the  Seigneur  R^ne 
Antoine,  above  noted.  His  reasons  may  be  found  in  Ap- 
pendix number  twelve  to  Hadden's  Journal  and  Orderly 
Books. 

'^^  Heinrich  Christoph  Breymann  was  lieutenant-colonel  of 
the  grenadiers  loaned  by  the  ^uke  of  Brunswick  to  George 
the  Third.  He  was  a  brave  and  efficient  officer,  but  was 
severely  criticised  for  tardiness  in  marching  to  the  support 
of  Baum,  at  Bennington.  A  report  was  current  in  Bur- 
goyne's  army,  says  Hadden,  "that  an  old  picque  between 
Brymeti  &  Baume  might  occasion  his  tardiness,  as  he  was 
heard  to  say,  *  we  will  let  them  get  warm  before  we  reach 

*^  John  Peters  was  a  Connecticut  yankee,  and  was  born  at 
Hebron  in  1740.  He  was  of  sound  rebel  stock.  His  father, 
John,  was  a  staunch  patriot,  and  his  cousin,  John  S.,  was 
governor  of  Connecticut.  The  historian  of  Connecticut,  the 
Rev.  Samuel,  was  his  uncle.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Yale 
College  in  the  class  of  1759,  and  studied  the  profession,  of 

25 


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194 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


and  Jessop"'^  are  also  out  of  the  line.  The  recruits 
of  the  33''''  regiment,  and  the  other  regiments  under 

them'  when  he  heard  the  firing."  Be  this  as  it  may,  he 
fought  well  after  reaching  the  scene  of  action,  was  himself 
wounded,  and  his  command  suffered  severe  loss.  He  was 
subsequently  killed  in  the  battle  of  Bcmus'  Heights,  October 
7,  1777.  Vide  Hadden's  Journal  and  Orderly  Books,  pp.  36, 
136. 

the  law,  removing  in  1766  to  Vermont,  where  he  became  a 
prosperous  citizen,  holding  important  civil  offices  until  the 
opening  of  the  war.  He  was  a  member  of  the  provincial 
congress,  but  was  hostile  to  independence,  and  allied  himself 
to  the  Tories  in  the  war,  and  accompanied  General  Carleton 
on  the  campaign  of  '76  as  a  volunteer.  He  went  on  the  raid  to 
Bennington  with  Baum,  as  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Queen's 
Loyal  Rangers,  expecting  to  add  to  his  command  from  the  dis- 
affected after  the  expected  defeat  of  his  fellow-countrymen, 
but  in  the  battle  lost  a  large  portion  of  his  men.  He  fought 
with  Burgoyne  through  the  campaign  of  ''j'j,  and  on  the  eve 
of  that  general's  surrender  of  his  army  he  escaped  to  Canada. 
Here  he  seems  to  have  been  neglected,  and  the  promises 
made  to  him  broken.  His  property  was,  of  course,  confis- 
cated, and  he  was  unable  on  account  of  the  act  of  attainder, 
to  return  to  his  old  home.  Broken  in  health,  and  unable 
even  to  get  pay  for  his  services,  he  finally  went  to  England 
to  urge  his  claims  upon  the  government,  leaving  his  family, 
consisting  of  a  wife  and  eight  children,  at  Cape  Breton,  but 
a  deaf  ear  was  turned  toward  him,  and  for  three  years  he 
hung  about  the  back  doors  of  royalty  begging  in  vain,  when 
deatn  came  to  his  relief  in  1788.  Vide  History  of  New 
York  During  the  Revolutionary  War  (Jones),  vol.  i,  pp.  686- 
692 ;  History  of  Vermont  (Hall),  p.  769 ;  Loyalists  of  the 
American  Revolution  (Sabine),  Boston,  1864,  vol.  2,  p.  183. 

"^Ebenezer  and  Edward  Jessup  were  brothers,  born  in 
the  Province  of  Connecticut,  who,  several  years  before  the 
commencement  of  the  Revolution,  removed  to  northern 
New  York  where  they  had  acquired  extensive  possessions, 
an^  erected  houses  and  mills.     They  werp  both  justices  of 


LietUenant  Digbys  Journal. 


195 


the  command  of  Lieu*  Nutt  '^^  are,  for  the  present, 
to  serve  on  board  the  Fleet. 


the  peace  for  the  Province  of  New  York,  and  engaged  in 
business  enterprises  of  importance,  but  when  the  war  began, 
thought  best  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  British  invaders  of 
their  country.  Edward  Jessup  had  already  had  military 
experience,  having  been  a  captain  of  Provincials  in  1759. 
Both  brothers,  it  would  seem,  were  considered  competent  to 
command,  hence  we  find  them  both  prominent  among  the 
commanders  of  Provincial  loyalists.  Burgoyne,  however,  did 
not  regard  these  soldiers  very  favorably,  as  they  did  not 
stand  by  him  with  that  constancy  which  he  demanded  of 
them,  but  we  must  remember  that  he  had  been  bred  in  the 
regular  service,  and  consequently  would,  of  necessity,  be 
prone  to  regard  Provincial  irregulars  unfavorably.  The 
brothers  Jessup  never  returned  to  the  United  States  and 
their  property  was  confiscated.  A  Jessup  genealogy  by 
Prof.  Henry  G.  Jessup  is  in  press,  to  which  the  reader  is 
referred  for  further  particulars.  Also,  vide  Hadden's  Journal 
and  Orderly  Books,  pp.  67-74,  112  et  passim.  I  am  indebted 
for  several  particulars  in  this  note  to  Mr.  Douglass  Brymner, 
Canadian  archivist. 

"^George  Anson  Nutt  became  an  ensign  in  the  Thirty- 
third  Foot,  August  28,  1 77 1,  and  a  lieutenant,  October  26, 
1775.  He  was  in  command  of  a  body  of  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men  to  recruit  the  Thirty-third  —  the  regiment  of 
Lord  Cornwallis,  which  had  accompanied  Sir  Peter  Parker's 
unsuccessful  expedition  against  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
and  which  was  to  have  joined  Carleton  at  Quebec,  had  not  a 
change  of  plan  taken  place.  He  was  attached  with  his 
command  to  the  artillery  in  the  campaign  of  ''jj,  and  suffered 
captivity  with  the  surrendered  army  until  September  3,  1781, 
when  he  was  exchanged.  On  October  i,  1780,  during  his 
captivity,  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  captain-lieutenant. 
In  1783  he  went  on  half  pay,  but  returned  to  active  service 
in  1787,  and  became,  on  May  30,  a  captain  in  the  Sixty- 
fifth  Foot.  Two  years  later  his  name  disappears  from  the 
rolls.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Hadden's  Journal  and 
Orderly  Book,  pp.  Ix,  Ixx ;  Burgoyne's  Orderly  Book,  p.  178. 


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196 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


The  line  upon  the  next  movement  will  encamp 
in  order  of  Battle  as  follows,  and  will  continue  the 
same  till  Countermanded. 


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Powell  147 


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Brig''  General. 


Hamilton  148 


47th  Regiment. 

53rd  Regiment. 
9th  Regiment. 


2ist  Regiment. 
62nd  Regiment. 
3oth  Regiment. 


"^  Henry  Watson  Powell  became  a  lieutenant  in  the  Forty- 
sixth  Foot,  March  lo,  1753,  and  a  captain,  September  2,  1756, 
in  the  Eleventh,  which  afterward  became  the  Sixty  fourth 
Foot.  In  this  regiment  he  served  against  the  French  West 
Indies  in  1759,  ^^id  in  1768  accompanied  his  regiment  to 
America.  June  2,  1770,  he  was  promoted  to  a  majority  in 
theThirty-eighth,  and  July  23, 1771,  to  a  lieutenant-colonelcy 
in  the  Fifty-third  Foot.  After  his  arrival  in  America  in  the 
spring  of  '76,  General  Carleton  assigned  him  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  Second  Brigade  with  the  rank  of  brigadier- 
general.     Upon  the  evacuation  by  the  Americans  of  Ticon- 

"^  James  Inglis  Hamilton.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  there 
were  several  of  this  name  in  the  army  at  the  same  period,  it 
is  difficult  to  identify  the  subject  of  this  note  during  the 
early  part  of  his  career.  Dr.  O'Callaghan  supposes  him  to 
have  been  commissioned  captain  in  the  army,  February  28, 
1755,  and  of  the  Thirty-fourth  Foot,  August  25,  1756.  In 
1758  this  regiment  formed  part  of  the  expedition  against  St. 
Malo,  and  in  1760  against  Belle  Isle.  On  October  17,  1761, 
he  was  appointed  major  in  command  of  the  One  Hundred 
and  Thirteenth  Royal  Highland  Volunteers,  which  regiment 
being  disbanded,  he  retired  on  half  pay  on  May  25,  1772, 


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Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


197 


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deroga,  July  6,  1777,  General  Powell  was  left  in  command  of 
the  captured  fortress.  ,  After  the  battle  of  Bennington,  an 
attempt  was  made  to  sever  Burgoyne's  communication  with 
Canada,  and  an  attack  was  made  upon  Ticonderoga,  which 
he  repelled,  though  with  such  a  considerable  loss  of  men  —  a 
large  number  being  taken  prisoners  —  as  to  give  to  success 


when  he  was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  army. 
On  March  11,  1774,  he  was  made  lieutenant-colonel  of  the 
Twenty-first  Foot.  He  served  under  Carleton  in  the  cam- 
paign of  '"j^,  and  was  appointed  brigadier-general  November 
5th  of  that  year.  He  participated  in  the  disastrous  cam- 
paign of  Burgoyne,  acquitting  himself  "with  grep.t   honor, 


"®W.  R.  Von  Gall  was  colonel  of  the  Hesse  Hanau  regi- 
ment, but  at  this  time  was  in  com.mand  of  the  Hessian 
regiments  of  Prince  Frederick  and  Hesse  Hanau,  which 
had  been  formed  into  a  brigade  by  General  Carleton,  and  he 
therefore  held  the  rank  of  brigadier-general  during  the  cam- 
paign. Colonel  Von  Gall  was  in  the  various  battles  of  the 
campaign  of  'jj,  and  shared  the  hardships  attendant  upon  it, 
and  seems  to  have  been  a  good  and  faithful  officer.     He  was 


^^  Johann  Friederich  Specht,  colonel  of  the  regiment  of 
that  name,  did  not  arrive  in  Canada  until  the  autumn  of 
1776  ;  hence  he  did  not  take  part  in  the  campaign  of  that 
year.  He,  however,  participated  in  the  campaign  of  Bur- 
goyne, and  commanded  the  first  German  brigade.     He  was 


198 


Lietitenant  Digbys  Jotirnal. 


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If  it  should  become  necessary  to  form  two  lines, 
the  second  line  is  to  be  formed  by  the  Second 
Brigade  of  British  doubling  upon  the  first,  and  the 
Second  Brigade  of  Germans,  doubling  in  the  same 
manner  upon  their  first.  The  Brigadiers  are  always 
to  encamp  with  their  Brigades. 

Lieut  Gen'  Burgoyne  takes  the  occasion  of  the 
Army's   assembling  to   expresj   publickly   the   high 

the  hue  of  defeat.  After  Burgoyne's  surrender,  he  abandoned 
Ticonderoga  and  returned  to  Canada,  where  he  hekl  com- 
mand for  several  years.  He  was  made  a  colonel  in  the  army, 
February  19,  1779,  ^^^  ^^  1780  purchased  an  estate  in  the 
suburbs  of  Quebec.  He  was  made  a  major-general,  Novem- 
ber 20,  1782  ;  colonel  of  the  Sixty-ninth  Foot,  April  16,  1792, 
and  of  the  Fifteenth  Foot,  June  20,  1794;  lieutenant-general, 

activity  and  good  conduct,"  according  to  Burgoyne.  He 
was  among  the  convention  prisoners,  and  was  exchanged 
September  3,  1781.  He  subsequently  became  colonel  in  the 
army,  September  3,  1781 ;  major-general,  September  28, 1787; 
colonel  of  the  Fifteenth  Foot,  August  22,  1792,  and  of  the 
Twenty-first  Foot,  June  20,  1794;  lieutenant-general,  Janu- 

among  the  captured  officers  and  shared  the  captivity  of  his 
men.  He  was  unjustly  accused  of  appropriating  money  to 
his  own  use,  a  charge  which  grew  out  of  an  arrangement 
which  he  made,  while  in  winter  quarters,  with  some  of  the 
inhabitants,  to  board  his  men  in  exchange  for  their  army 
rations.  These  rations  he  cut  down  in  quantity,  in  order  to 
accumulate  a  reserve  fund  for  them,  and  although  it  appeared 
that  he  was  not  doing  this  for  private  gain,  his  tyrannical 
prince,  when  he  returned,  after  his  captivity  in  1 781,  angrily 
turned  him  out  of  his  service.  There  was  another  reason, 
however,  quite  as  potent  with  the  prince.  As  long  as  his 
officers  remained  out  of  the  country,  either  in  the  service  of 

among  the  captured  troops,  and  after  his  exchange  in  Octo- 
ber, 1780,  returned  to  Canada  and  remained  there  until  peace 
was  declared,  when  he  returned  home,  in  October,  1783.  He 


'  iW 


i 


LictUenant  Digbys  Journal. 


199 


opinion  he  entertains  of  the  Troops,  which  his 
Majesty  has  been  graciously  pleased  to  intrust  to 
his  command. 

They  could  not  have  been  selected  more  to  his  sat- 
isfaction, and  the  lieu'  Gen*  trusts  it  will  be  received 
as  one  mark  of  his  attention  to  their  glory  and  wel- 
fare, that  with  the  promise  of  every  encouragement 
the  service  will  allow,  he  declares  a  determination  and 
he  calls  upon  every  officer  to  assist  him  to  mentain 
a  steady,  uniform  system  of  subordination  and  obey- 
dience. 


May  3,  1796,  and  general,  January  i,  1801.  He  died  at 
Lyme,  England,  July  14,  18 14.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in 
loco ;  Burgoyne's  Orderly  Book,  p.  10;  Iladden's  Journal  and 
Orderly  Books,  pp.  45,  1 17,  et passim ;  Journal  of  Occurrences 
During  the  Late  American  War,  p.  173  ;  Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine, vol.  84,  part  2,  p.  190. 

ary  26,  1797,  and  general,  April  29,  1802.  He  died  July  27, 
1803.  FeV/(?  British  Army  Lists,  2« /(?f^  ;  Burgoyne's  Orderly 
Book,  pp.  22,  et  scq.,  190,  et  passim  ;  A  State  of  the  Expedi- 
tion, Appendix  49;  Hadden's  Journal  and  Orderly  Books, 
pp.  45,  176,  et  passim. 

the  British  king,  or  in  captivity,  the  result  of  that  service, 
the  prince  received  a  considerable  income  from  the  treasury 
of  Great  Britain.  Specht  and  others  remained  in  Canada  in 
the  service  of  George  the  Third,  until  the  peace,  and  Von 
Gall  it  appears  did  not  have  permission  to  return  ;  hence  he 
was  made  an  example  of,  and  the  principal  reason  given  was 
his  return  without  permission.  Certainly  no  other  officer 
attempted  to  return  after  this  salutary  example.  Vide  Me- 
moirs of  General  Riedesel,  vol.  i,  pp.  39,  100;  vol.  2,  pp. 
101-105,  216-218. 

died  at  Brunswick,  June  24,  1787.  Vide  Memoirs  of  General 
Riedesel,  vol.  i,  pp.  26,  62,  66;  vol.  2,  pp.  47,  73,  100,  et  pas- 
sim ;  Journal  of  Madame  Riedesel,  J).  160. 


200 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


After  which  the  standing  regulations  of  the  army 
respecting  Dutys  in  camp&''  are  inserted,  with  orders 
for  officer's  strictly  to  observe  on  their  several  guards 
and  out  posts,  which  from  their  length  I  am  obliged 
to  omit  inserting  here. — 

General  Orders,  June  29. 

The  army  embarks  tomorrow  to  oppose  the  enemy. 
We  are  to  Contend  for  the  King  and  the  Constitution 
of  Great  Britain  ;  to  vindicate  law  and  relieve  the 
oppressed ;  a  cause  in  which  his  majesties  Troops, 
and  those  of  the  Princes,  his  allies,  will  feel  equal 
excitement.  The  services  required  of  this  particular 
expedition  are  critical  and  conspicuous.  During  our 
progress  occasions  may  occur  in  which  no  difficulty, 
nor  labour,  nor  life  are  to  be  regarded. — 

We  crossed  the  Lake  pretty  much  in  the  same 
manner  before  related,  excepting  that  the  season  was 
a  more  pleasant  one,  and  our  being  a  longer  time  on 
the  passage,  owing  to  the  great  tediousness  of  bring- 
ing over  Artillery  and  other  stores,  so  requisite  for 
such  an  expedition.  We  remained  near  a  week  at 
Bouquet  river, 's*  30  miles  North  of  Crown  Point, 
where  we  were  joined  by  a  nation  of  Indians,  and 
who,  from  General  Burgoyne,  received  the  most  posi- 
tive orders  not  to  scalp,  except  the  dead. 

''^^The  river  Bouquet  derives  its  name  from  Colonel  Bou- 
quet, who  commanded  an  expedition  against  the  Indians 
while  Canada  was  under  the  French.  It  was  at  the  place 
here  mentioned  that  he  negotiated  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the 
savages. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal.  201 

30.  The  Advanced  Corps  made  their  appearance 
before  Ticonderoga.  We  encamped  at  Three  Mile 
Point.  The  line,  with  the  general,  were  at  Putnam's 
Creek,  about  six  miles  in  our  rear,  but  expected 
shortly  up.  We  had  a  full  view  from  our  post  of 
their  works  lines  ^"^  and  their  flag  of  Liberty  dis- 
played on  the  summit  of  the  Fort.  Our  gun  boats 
were  anchored  across  the  river  out  of  the  range  of 
their  cannon,  and  our  two  frigates,  the  largest  called 
the  Royal  George  carrying  32  Guns,  and  built  at  St 
Johns  during  the  winter,  with  the  Inflexible  at  a 
small  distance  from  the  Gun  boats,  with  a  large  boom 
ahead  to  prevent  fire  ships  coming  down  from  the 
Fort.  Our  Indians  had  many  small  skirmishes  with 
parties  of  theirs,  and  always  came  off  victorious,  and 
what  prisoners  were  taken,  all  seemed  to  agree  that 
they  intended  to  make  a  vigorous  defence.  With 
our  glasses  we  could  distinguish  every  thing  they 
were  about  in  the  Fort,  appearing  very  busy  about 
their  works,  and  viewing  with  their  glasses  our  situa- 
tion force  &^  It  was  entertaining  enough,  being  a 
scene  of  life  I  had  not  been  accustomed  to  before, 
and  its  novelty  made  it  amusing. 

State  of  the  Army  rank  and  file  fit  for  Duty. 

British 3*252 

Germans 3.007 

Canadians 145 

Indians 500 

Total 6,904 

26  ■  , 


ii   i 


si  ,;      i 


202 


Lieutenant  Digbys  JottrnaL 


I  have  not  Included  sick  officers,  servants,  Batt- 
men  ^^^  fc 

The  Country  round  the  Fort  is  covered  with  thick 
wood  through  [which]  roads  were  to  be  made  for 
our  carrying  on  regular  approaches. 

July  I.  About  12  o  clock  a  small  boat  of  theirs 
rowed  down  from  the  fort  within  reach  of  the  cannon 
from  our  gun  boats  ;  she  lay  on  her  oars,  when  we 
saw  her  intent  was  to  reconnoitre  our  post,  at  first  it 
was  proposed  to  fire  on  her,  but  the  smallness  of  the 
object  made  it  not  worth  perhaps  expending  a  few 
shots  on,  and  she  returned  quietly  back  to  the  Fort. 

2^.  A  detachment  of  about  500  men  from  our  corps 
were  ordered,  under  the  command  of  Brig"^  Gen' 
Frazier,  to  take  possession  of  an  eminence,  said  to 
command  the  Fort.  We  moved  at  one  o  clock,  and 
about  three  had  a  skirmish  with  a  large  party  of  the 
enemy,  and  drove  them  under  cover  of  their  cannon. 
We  lost  some  Indians  and  poor  Rich*'  Houghton,'"  a 

'^^  Batmen.  Bdt  is  a  French  word,  signifying  pack-saddle. 
The  government  formerly  allowed  to  every  company  of  a 
regiment  in  foreign  service  a  batman,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
take  charge  of  the  cooking  utensils,  etc.,  of  the  company. 
The  term  came  to  be  applied  to  men  in  charge  of  baggage, 
and,  finally,  though  inappropriately,  to  men  in  charge  of 
officers'  horses.  The  pack-horses  were  also  called  bat-horses, 
and  money  paid  for  service  bat- money. 

^'^  Richard  Houghton  was  wounded  on  the  night  of  July 
2d  while  engaged  in  trying  to  save  some  savages  from  being 
captured  or  destroyed.  They  had  been  having  a  pow-wow, 
and  had  become  drunk  as  usual,  and  probably  in  a  spirit  of 
bravado  approached  the  American  lines.     Houghton,  while 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


203 


lieu^  of  our  regiment  [was]  severely  wounded.  During 
that  night  they  were  constantly  fireing  on  us  from 
under  cover  of  their  guns,  where  they  well  knew  we 
could  not  follow  them.  Our  out  sentries  and  theirs 
were  very  near  each  other,  and  sleep  was  a  stranger 
to  us.  We  had  but  two  6  pounders  with  us,  the  road 
not  being  cut  for  a  large  gun.  We  fired  two  evening 
guns  to  make  them  believe  there  were  two  Brigades 
on  the  ground,  and  also  caused  our  drums  to  beat  to 
alarm  them  in  the  Fort. 

3^^.  At  day  break,  the  remainder  of  ou  corps  joined 
us  with  the  First  Brigade  of  British,  and  soon  after, 
they  opened  a  nine  pound  battery  on  us,  and  by  the 
direction  of  their  shot,  they  must  have  seen  our  6 
pounders,  as  they  killed  a  man  and  horse  harnessed, 
in  the  carriage  of  the  gun,  on  which  we  were  obliged 
to  move  them  under  cover  of  a  small  hill.  During 
the  day  they  killed  a  few  of  our  men,  and  some  balls 

endeavoring  to  get  the  worse  than  useless  creatures  back 
within  the  British  lines,  was  fired  upon  by  the  Americans 
and  wounded.  One  of  the  savages  was  killed  and  another 
wounded.  Lieutenant  Houghton  obtained  his  first  com- 
mission in  the  Fifty-third  Foot  as  an  ensign,  August  30,  1768, 
and  was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy,  April  30,  1771.  Being 
wounded  in  the  battle  of  the  7th  of  October,  and  carried 
to  the  rear,  he  was  not  among  the  convention  prisoners,  and 
undoubtedly  remained  with  the  Fifty -third  in  Canada  until 
its  return  to  England  in  the  summer  of  1789.  He  was  com- 
missioned as  captain  and  captain-lieutenant,  December  27, 
1785,  and  his  name  so  appears  in  the  army  lists  of  1793, 
after  which  date  it  is  dropped.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in 
loco ;  Journal  of  Occurrences  During  the  Late  American 
War,  pp.  174,  176;  Hadden's  Journal  and  Orderly  Books, 
p.  83  ;  Historical  Record  of  the  Fifty-third  Foot,  p.  4. 


asi« 


T?°;ir^-amiii:iiJlTW  iMiHB«llii;>  ri  i  i  -ttt'Tht-'^-'T^'T'— Ti-gB?  fi;ri-,i-.rrrTTO-r.---rri7t^7;,nr-.i- 


PP'I 

W   1 

!: 

^1    ! 


II 


204 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


went  through  our  tents,  their  ground  commanding 
ours. 

4'^  Before  day  light,  we  shifted  our  camp  farther 
back  a  small  way  from  the  range  of  their  shot,  until 
our  12  pounders  could  come  up  to  play  on  them 
in  return  ;  by  their  not  throwing  shells,  we  supposed 
they  had  none,  which  from  our  camp  being  on  a 
rocky  eminence  would  have  raked  us  much  ;  as  to 
their  balls  we  did  not  much  mind  them  being  at  too 
great  a  distance  to  suffer  from  any  point  blank  shot 
from  their  cannon.  About  noon  we  took  possession 
of  Sugar  loaf  hill  ^^^  on  which  a  battery  was   imme- 

^"Sugarloaf  Hill,  or  Mount  Defiance,  was  an  elevation 
difficult  of  ascent,  which  commanded  the  extensive  works  at 
Ticonderoga.  The  command  of  Ticonderoga  and  the  de- 
fenses in  the  vicinity  had  been  assigned  to  Gates  by  Schuy- 
ler, who  was  in  command  of  the  department ;  but  the  jealousy 
of  Gates  caused  him  to  decline  it,  and  this  occasioned  some 
delay  in  getting  the  defenses  into  a  condition  to  meet  an 
assault.  Schuyler  was  bending  all  his  energies  toward 
strengthening  the  works  in  his  department,  and  as  soon  as  the 
decision  of  Gates  was  known,  he  dispatched  General  Arthur 
St.  Clair  to  Ticonderoga,  which  he  reached  on  the  twelfth 
of  June.  With  a  strange  want  of  foresight,  he  took  no  steps 
to  fortify  the  important  hill  which  commanded  his  works, 
but  devoted  himself  to  strengthening  them.  Burgoyne  thus 
speaks  of  this  neglect  of  St.  Clair:  "The  manner  of  taking 
up  the  ground  at  Ticonderoga,  convinces  me  that  they  have 
no  men  of  military  science.  Without  possessing  Sugar  Hill, 
from  which  I  was  proceeding  to  attack  them,  Ticonderoga 
is  only  what  I  once  heard  Montcalm  had  expressed  it  to  be : 
*  Une  porte  pour  un  honnete  hoimne  de  se  deshonorer.'  They 
seem  to  have  expended  great  treasure  and  the  unwearied 
labor  of  more  than  a  3/ear  to  fortify,  upon  the  supposition 
that  we  should  only  attack  them  upon  the  point  where  they 
were  best  prepared  to  resist."  Vide  Letter  to  Earl  Hervey, 
nth  July,  Fonblanque,  p.  247. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


205 


diately  ordered  to  be  raised.  It  was  a  post  of  great 
consequence,  as  it  commanded  a  great  part  of  the 
works  of  Ticonderoga,  all  their  vessels,  and  likewise 
afforded  us  the  means  of  cutting  off  their  communica- 
tion with  Fort  Independent,  a  place  also  of  great 
strength  and  the  works  very  extensive.  But  here  the 
commanding  officer  was  reckoned  guilty  of  a  great 
oversight  in  lighting  fires  on  that  post,  tho  I  am  in- 
formed, it  was  done  by  the  Indians,  the  smoak  of 
which  was  soon  perceived  by  the  enemy  in  the  Fort ; 
as  he  should  have  remained  undiscovered  till  night, 
when  he  was  to  have  got  two  12  pounders  up  tho 
their  getting  there  was  almost  a  perpendicular  ascent, 
and  drawn  up  by  most  of  the  cattle  belonging  to  the 
Army.  They  no  sooner  perceived  us  in  possession  of 
a  post,  which  they  thought  quite  impossible  to  bring 
cannon  up  to,  than  all  their  pretended  boastings  of 
holding  out  to  the  last,  and  choosing  rather  to  die  in 
their  works  than  give  them  up,  failed  them,  and  on 
the  night  of  the  5^*^  [day]  they  set  fire  to  several 
parts  of  the  garrison,  kept  a  constant  fire  of  great 
guns  the  whole  night,  and  under  the  protection  of  that 
fire,  and  clouds  of  smoke  they  evacuated  the  garrison, 
leaving  all  their  cannon,  amunition  and  a  great  quan- 
tity of  stores.  They  embarked  what  baggage  they 
could  during  the  night  in  their  battows,  and  sent  them 
up  to  Skeensborough  under  the  protection  of  five 
schooners,  which  Captain  Carter '^^  of  the  Artillery 

'^"^  John  Carter  became  a  cadet  at  Woolwich,  February  18, 
1752;  lieutenant-fireworker  in  the  artillery,  March  i,  1755; 


■ 


IB! 


.'<■■  ' 


:itiii 


■  U     1 


.    ! 


206 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Jotirnal. 


with  our  gun  boats  followed  and  destroyed  with  all 
their  baggage  and  provisions.  As  I  happened  to  be 
one  of  the  Lieutenants  of  the  Grenadiers  piquet  that 
night,  when  we  perceived  the  great  fires  in  the  Fort, 
the  general  was  immediately  made  acquainted  with 
it  and  our  suspicion  of  their  abandoning  the  place, 
who  with  many  other  good  officers  imagined  it  was 
all  a  feint  in  them  to  induce  us  to  make  an  attack, 
and  seemingly  with  a  great  reason  of  probability,  tho 
to  me,  who  could  be  but  a  very  poor  judge,  it  seemed 
quite  the  contrary,  as  I  never  before  saw  such  great 
fires.  About  1 2  o  clock  we  were  very  near  committing 
a  most  dreadful  mistake.  At  that  hour  of  the  night, 
as  I  was  going  my  rounds  to  observe  if  all  the 
sentrys  were  alert  on  their  different  posts,  one  sentry 
challenged  a  party  of  men  passing  under  his  post, 
which  was  situated  on  the  summit  of  a  ravine  or 
gully,  and  also  heard  carriages  dragging  in  the  same 
place,  who  answered  friends,  but  on  his  demand- 
ing the  countersign,  they  did  not  give  it,  and  by 
their  hesitating  appeared  at  a  loss;  when  the  fellow 
would  have  instantly  fired  upon  them  according  to 

second  lieutenant,  April  i,  1756;  first  lieutenant,  April  2, 
1757;  captain-lieutenant,  January  i,  1759,  and  captain,  Decem- 
ber 7,  1763.  He  participated  in  the  campaign  of  1776.  At 
this  time  he  was  in  command  of  a  park  of  artillery.  He 
was  created  a  major  in  the  army,  August  29,  1777,  and  was 
among  the  captured  officers,  but  died  a  prisoner,  on  March 
17,  1779.  FzV/^  Kane's  Artillery  List ;  British  Army  Lists, 
in  loco ;  History  American  War  (Stedman),  vol.  i,  p.  324; 
History  Royal  Artillery  (Duncan),  vol.  i,  pp.  176,  244;  Had- 
den's  Journal  and  Orderly  Books,  pp.  91,  250,  317,  et  passim. 


S^i  wMti 


Lieutenant  Dighy's  Jonrnal. 


207 


his  orders,  had  not  I  come  up  at  the  time,  on  which 
I  caused  him  to  challenge  them  again  ;  they  not 
answering,  I  called  to  the  piquet  to  turn  out  and 
stand  to  their  arms,  still  lothe  to  fire.  Just  at  the 
time,  Captain  Walker '^^  came  up  in  great  haste  and 
told  me  it  was  a  party  of  his  Artillery  with  two 
12  pounders  going  to  take  post  on  Sugar  loaf  hill, 
and  his  orders  to  them  was  to  cause  it  to  be  kept 
as  secret  as  possible,  which  by  their  too  strictly 
attending  to,  in  not  answering  our  challenge,  which 


^^  Ellis  Walker  was  made  a  cadet  at  Woolwich,  March  i, 
1755,  and  became  a  lieutenant-fireworker  in  the  Royal  Artil- 
lery October  29th  of  the  same  year.  He  advanced  rapidly 
in  his  profession,  being  commissioned  as  second  lieutenant, 
April  2,  1757;  first  lieutenant,  January  i,  1759,  and  captain- 
lieutenant,  August  5,  1761.  In  this  year,  war  again  broke 
out  between  England  and  France,  and  Captain-Lieutenant 
Walker  sailed  on  the  expedition  under  Major-General  Hodg- 
son against  Belle-Isle,  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  which,  after 
several  attacks  and  the  loss  of  many  men,  was  captured  on 
the  seventh  of  June,  two  months  after  the  appearance  of  the 
fleet  before  Port  Andre,  Walker  became  a  captain,  January 
I,  1 77 1,  and  was  in  the  campaign  of  1776.  In  the  campaign 
of  1777  he  had  charge  of  the  artillery  of  General  Eraser's 
brigade.  He  returned  to  England  after  the  war,  and  appears 
on  the  army  list  as  late  as  1820,  sixty-five  years  from  the  date 
of  his  first  commission,  being  then  a  general,  having  received 
the  following  commissions,  viz.:  Of  major  in  the  army,  June 
7,  1 782  ;  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  artillery,  December  i ,  1 782  ; 
colonel  in  the  army,  October  12th,  and  in  the  artillery, 
November  i,  1793  ;  major-general,  February  26,  1795  ;  colonel 
commanding,  September  25,  1796;  lieutenant-general,  April 
29,  1802,  and  general,  January  i,  1812.  Vide  British  Army 
Lists,  in  loco;  Kane's  Artillery  List ;  History  Royal  Artillery 
(Duncan),  vol.  i,  pp.  224,  229 ;  Hadden's  Journal  and  Orderly 
Books,  pp.  154,  159,  250-254,  et passim. 


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ill 

li^P  1 


1  : ; 


ill 


i 


2o8 


Lietitefiant  Digbys  Journal. 


could  never  be  the  intention  of  their  orders,  was 
near  involving  us  all  in  a  scene  of  the  greatest 
confusion,  which  must  have  arose  from  our  piquet 
firing  on  them.  I  own  I  was  somewhat  alarmed,  still 
thinking  the  great  fires  in  their  lines  a  feint,  and 
their  coming  to  attack  us  with  more  security,  imag- 
ineing  we  gave  into  that  feint. 

6^^  At  the  first  dawn  of  light,  3  deserters  came  in 
and  informed  that  the  enemy  were  retreating  the 
other  side  of  mount  Independent.  The  general  was, 
without  loss  of  time,  made  acquainted  with  it,  and 
the  picquets  of  the  army  were  ordered  to  march  and 
take  possession  of  the  garrison  and  hoist  the  King's 
colors,  which  was  immediately  done,  and  the  Grena- 
diers and  Light  Infantry  were  moved  under  the 
command  [of]  Brigadier  General  Frazier,  if  possible 
to  come  up  with  them  with  the  greatest  expedition. 
From  the  Fort,  we  were  obliged  to  cross  over  a 
boom  of  boats  between  that  place  and  Mount  Inde- 
pendent,'^^  which  they,  in  their  hurry,  attempted  to 
burn  without  effect,  as  the  water  quenched  it,  though 
in  some  places  we  could  go  but  one  abreast,  and  had 
they  placed  one  gun,  so  as  the  grape  shot  [could] 

^^^  Mount  Independence.  It  had  received  this  name  on  the 
eighteenth  of  the  previous  July.  On  the  morning  of  that 
day,  just  after  the  beating  of  the  reveille,  a  courier  reached 
the  camp  of  the  Americans,  who  were  posted  on  this  hill, 
with  a  copy  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  which 
caused  great  enthusiasm  in  the  camp.  A  feu^de-joie  of 
thirteen  guns,  in  honor  of  the  thirteen  Confederated  States, 
was  fired,  and  the  hill  was  named  Mount  Independence  to 
commemorate  the  event. 


\:im    >>>■ 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


209 


take  the  range  of  the  bridge  —  and  which  surprised 
us  they  did  not,  as  two  men  could  have  fired  it,  and 
then  made  off  —  they  would,  in  all  probability,  have 
destroyed  all  or  most  of  us  on  the  Boom.  We  con- 
tinued the  pursuit  the  whole  day  without  any  sort  of 
provisions,  and,  indeed,  I  may  say,  we  had  very  little 
or  none,  excepting  one  cow  we  happened  to  kill  in 
the  woods,  which,  without  bread,  was  next  to  nothing 
among  so  many  for  two  days  after,  a  few  hours  rest 
at  night  in  the  woods  was  absolutely  necessary 

f^.  After  marching  4  or  5  miles  we  came  up  with 
above  2000  of  the  enemy  strongly  posted  on  the  top 
of  a  high  hill,  with  breast  works  before  them,  and  great 
trees  cut  across  to  prevent  our  approach  ;  but  not- 
withstanding all  these  difficulties,  they  had  no  effect 
on  the  ardor  always  shewn  by  British  Troops,  who 
with  the  greatest  steadiness  and  resolution,  mounted 
the  hill  amidst  showers  of  balls  mixed  with  buck  shot, 
which  they  plentifully  bestowed  amongst  us.  This 
being  the  first  serious  engagement  I  had  ever  been 
in,  I  must  own,  when  we  received  orders  to  prime 
and  load,  which  we  had  barely  time  to  do  before 
we  received  a  heavy  fire,  the  idea  of  perhaps  a  few 
moments  conveying  me  before  the  presence  of  my 
Creator  had  its  force  ;  but  a  moment's  thought  partly 
reconciled  it ;  and  let  not  the  reader  imagine  from 
that  thought,  that  it  was  the  cause  of  my  deviating  at 
the  time  from  my  duty  as  a  soldier,  as  I  have  always 
made  it  a  rule  that  a  proper  resignation  to  the  will 
of  the  Divine  Being  is  the  certain  foundation  for 


2IO 


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li 


.V.\  . 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


true  bravery  ;  but  to  return,  we  no  sooner  gained  the 
ascent,  than  there  was  such  a  fire  sent  amongst  them 
as  not  easily  conceived ;  they  for  some  hours  main- 
tained their  ground,  and  once  endeavoured  to  sur- 
round us,  but  were  soon  made  sensible  of  their 
inferiority,  (altho  we  had  not  more  than  850  men 
engaged,  owing  to  our  leaving  the  camp  in  so  great 
a  hurry,  half  of  our  companies  being  on  guard  and 
other  duties),  and  were  drove. from  their  strong  hold 
with  great  slaughter.  They  continued  retreating 
from  one  post  to  another,  the  country  affording  them 
many.  After  killing  and  taking  prisoners  most  of 
their  principal  officers,  they  were  totally  routed  and 
defeated  with  great  loss.  The  numbers  they  had 
killed  cannot  easily  be  ascertained,  as  a  great  many 
fell  in  the  pursuit  which  continued  some  distance 
from  the  field  of  action.  They  had  two  Colonels 
killed,  one  taken  prisoner,  with  many  other  officers 
killed  and  taken  prisoners.  The  action  lasted  near 
three  hours,  before  they  attempted  retreating,  with 
great  obstinacy.  We  had  near  two  hundred  killed 
and  wounded.     Major  Grant,'^^  24^^  Regiment  who 

'^  Robert  Grant  was  killed  early  on  the  morning  of  the 
seventh.  Being  on  the  advance-guard,  he  surprised  a  party 
of  Americans  while  cooking  their  breakfasts  and  drove  in 
their  pickets.  He  had  climbed  upon  a  stump  to  get  a  view 
of  the  situation,  when  he  was  picked  off  by  a  sharpshooter. 
Anburey  speaks  of  him  as  "  a  very  gallant  and  brave  officer." 
He  had  served  on  this  same  ground  twenty  years  before 
with  the  Americans  against  the  French,  as  a  lieutenant.  He 
received  his  captain's  commission  in  1762,  and,  two  years 
later,  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  a  company  in  the 


:, 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Jojcrnal. 


211 


had  the  advanced  guard  was  the  first  who  fell.  We 
had  two  other  majors  wounded,  which  were  all  we 
had  with  us.  Lord  Balcarres,  Major  to  the  Light 
Infantry,  and  Major  Ackland  of  our  Battallion,  with 
15  or  16  other  officers  killed  &  wounded,  the  fire 
being  very  heavy  for  the  time.      On  Col'  Frances  '^9 

Fortieth  Foot.  His  commission  to  a  majority  in  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Foot  he  had  enjoyed  but  two  years,  it  having  been  dated 
March  5,  1775.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Travels 
in  the  Interior  Parts  of  America,  vol.  i,  p.  327;  Naval  and 
Military  Memoirs  (Beatson),  vol,  6,  p.  69. 

1*9  Ebenezer  Francis  was  the  son  of  Ebenezer  Francis  and 
Rachel  Whitmore,  and  was  born  in  Medford,  December  22, 
1743.     After   receiving  a  careful  education,  he   moved  to 
Beverly,  where,  in   1766,  he  was  married  to  Judith  Wood. 
He  was  commissioned  by  Congress  as  captain,  July  i,  1775, 
and  was  the  next  year  promoted  to  a  colonelcy.    By  author- 
ity of  Congress  in  January,  1777,  he  organized  a  regiment  — 
the  Eleventh  Massachusetts  —  with  which  he  marched  to 
oppose  the  advance  of  Burgoyne.     Anburey  says  that,  "  At 
the  commencement  of  the  action,  the  enemy  were  every- 
where thrown  into  the  greatest  confusion,  but  being  rallied 
by  that  brave  officer.  Colonel  Francis,  whose  death,  though 
an  enemy,  will  ever  be  regretted  by  those  who  can  feel  for 
the  loss  of  a  gallant  and  brave  man,  the  fight  was  renewed 
with  the  greatest  degree  of  fierceness  and  obstinacy."     So 
interesting  is  Anburey's  relation  of  two  incidents  connected 
with  Colonel  Francis'  death,  that  it  may  be  pardonable  to 
repeat  them  here,  though  they  have  been  often  before  re- 
peated.    He  says  :  "  After  the  action  was  over  and  all  firing 
had  ceased  for  near  two  hours,  upon  the  summit   of  the 
mountain  I  have  already  described,  which  had  no  ground 
anywhere  that  could  command  it,  a  number  of  officers  were 
collected  to  read  the  papers  taken  out  of  the  pocket  book  of 
Colonel  Francis,   when   Captain   Shrimpton   of  the   Sixty- 
second  regiment,  who  had  the  papers  in  his  hand,  jumped 
up  and  fell,  exclaiming  *  he  was  severely  wounded.'    We  all 


i       I 


212 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


^ 


falling,  who  was  there  secona  in  command,  they  did 
not  long  stand.  I  saw  him  after  he  fell,  and  his 
appearance  caused  me  to  remark  his  figure,  which 
was  fine  &  even  at  that  time  made  me  regard  him 
with  attention.  Our  men  got  more  plunder  than 
they  could  carry,  and  great  quantities  of  paper 
money  which  was  not  in  the  least  regarded  then, 
tho  had  we  kept  it,  it  would  have  been  of  service, 
as  affairs  turned  out.  I  made  prize  of  a  pretty 
good  mare.  In  general  Burgoyne's  letter  to  Govern- 
ment, he  makes  particular  mention  of  the  Grenadiers, 
who  with  the  rest  of  the  troops  behaved  with  the 
greatest   bravery.     A   party   of   Germans  came   up 

heard  the  ball  whiz  by  us,  and  turning  to  the  place  whence 
the  report  came,  saw  the  smoke.  As  there  was  every  reason 
to  imagine  the  piece  was  fired  from  some  tree,  a  party  of 
men  were  instantly  detached,  but  could  find  no  person,  the 
fellow,  no  doubt,  as  soon  as  he  had  fired,  had  slipped  down 
and  made  his  escape."  The  sequel  is  curious.  After  the 
surrender,  while  Anburey  and  some  brother  officers  were 
prisoners  at  Cambridge,  he  says :  "  A  few  days  since,  walk- 
ing out  with  some  officers,  we  stopped  at  a  house  to  pur- 
chase vegetables.  Whilst  the  other  officers  were  bargaining 
with  the  woman  of  the  house,  I  observed  an  elderly  woman 
sitting  by  the  fire,  who  was  continually  eyeing  us,  and  every 
now  and  then  shedding  a  tear.  Just  as  we  were  quitting  the 
house  she  got  up,  and  bursting  into  tears,  said  :  *  Gentlemen, 
will  you  let  a  poor  distracted  woman  speak  a  word  to  you 
before  you  go  ? '  We,  as  you  must  naturally  imagine,  were 
all  astonished,  and  upon  inquiring  what  she  wanted,  with 
the  most  poignant  grief  and  sobbing  as  if  her  heart  was  on 
the  point  of  breaking,  asked  if  any  of  us  knew  her  son,  who 
was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Huberton,  a  Colonel  Francis. 
Several  of  us  informed  her,  that  we  had  seen  him  after  he 
was  dead.  She  then  inquired  about  his  pocket-book,  and  if 
•5 


t 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Jour^ial. 


213 


time  enough  also  to  share  in  the  glory  of  the  day, 
and  the  regular  fire  they  gave  at  a  critical  time  was 
of  material  service  to  us.  After  the  engagement, 
we  made  sort  of  huts  covered  with  the  bark  of  trees 
for  our  wounded,  who  were  in  a  very  bad  situation, 
as  we  had  nothing  to  assist  them  till  the  return  of 
an  express  which  was  sent  to  Ticonderoga  for 
surgeons  &^  S:''.  But  here  the  reader  will  forgive 
my  leaving  that  place,  (&  recollect  the  hurry  we 
were  ordered  from  it)  without  giving  a  description 
of  that  important  fortress.  Ticonderoga  lies  on  the 
western  shore,  and  only  a  few  miles  to  the  north- 
ward from  the  commencement  of  that  narrow  inlet 


any  of  his  papers  were  safe,  as  some  related  to  his  estates, 
and  if  any  of  the  soldiers  had  got  his  watch  ;  if  she  could  but 
obtain  that  in  remembrance  of  her  dear,  dear  son,  she  should 
be  happy.  Captain  Ferguson,  of  our  regiment,  who  was  of 
the  party,  told  her,  as  to  the  colonel's  papers  and  pocket-book 
he  was  fearful  that  they  were  either  lost  or  destroyed,  but 
pulling  a  watch  from  his  fob,  said  '  There,  good  woman,  if 
that  can  make  you  happy,  take  it  and  God  bless  you  ! ' 
We  were  all  much  surprised,  as  unacquainted,  as  he  had 
made  a  purchase  of  it  from  a  drum  boy.  On  seeing  it,  it 
is  impossible  to  describe  the  joy  and  grief  that  was  depicted 
in  her  countenance;  I  never  in  all  my  life  beheld  such  a 
strength  of  passion.  She  kissed  it,  looked  unutterable  grat- 
itude at  Captain  Ferguson,  then  kissed  it  again  ;  her  feelings 
were  inexpressible.  She  knew  not  how  to  express  or  show 
them.  She  would  repay  his  kindness  by  kindness,  but  could 
only  sob  her  thanks.  Our  feelings  were  lifted  up  to  an  inex- 
pressible height.  We  promised  to  search  after  the  papers, 
and  I  believe,  at  that  moment,  could  have  hazarded  life 
itself  to  procure  them."  Vide  History  of  Medford  (Brooks), 
Boston,  1855,  pp.  194-196,  513  ;  Travels  in  the  Interior  Parts 
of  America,  vol.  i,  pp.  331,  et  seq.,  336;  vol.  2,  pp.  208-210. 


iii 


W: 


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214 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


by  which  the  water  from  Lake  George''^  is  conveyed 
to  Lake  Champlain.  Crown  Point  Hes  about  a  dozen 
miles  farther  north  at  the  extremity  of  that  inlet. 
The  first  of  these  places  is  situated  on  an  angle  of 
land,  which  is  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  water 
and  that  covered  by  rocks.  A  great  part  of  rhe 
fourth  side  was  covered  by  a  deep  morass ;  where 
that  fails,  the  old  French  lines  still  continued 
as  a  defence  on  the  north  west  quarter.  The 
Americans  strengthened  these  lines  with  additional 
works  and  a  block  house.  They  had  other  posts 
and  works  with  block  houses  on  the  left  towards 
Lake  George.  To  the  right  of  the  French  lines 
they  had  also  two  new  block  houses  with  other 
works.  On  the  eastern  shore  of  the  inlet,  and 
opposite  to  Ticonderoga,  they  had  taken  still  more 
pains  in  fortifying  a  high  circular  hill,  to  which  they 
gave  the  name  of  Mount  Independent ;  on  the 
summit  of  this,  which  is  table  land,  they  had  erected 
a  star  fort  inclosing  a  large  square  of  '  'acks  well 
fortified  and  supplied  with  artillery,  loot  of  the 

^^  Champlain  was  the  first  Europear  j  penetrated  the 
gloom  of  this  wild  region,  and  to  the  great  lake  he  gave  his 
own  name.  Four  decades  later,  that  self-sacrificing  and 
heroic  man,  the  Pere  Jogues,  with  a  wild  band  of  savages, 
traversed  painfully  the  dangerous  trail  into  the  Iroquois 
country,  and  on  the  eve  of  one  of  the  many  festival  days  of 
his  church  — that  of  Corpus  Christi —  he  came  to  the  bank 
of  this  romantic  lake,  and  with  religious  fervor  bestowed 
upon  it  the  name  of  St.  Sacrament.  This  name  it  retained 
for  more  than  a  century,  when,  in  1755,  General  Johnson 
changed  its  name  to  Lake  George,  in  honor  of  the  British 
king,  and  in  evide::  ^  of  his  dominion  over  this  region. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


215 


mountain,  which  on  the  west  side  projected  into  the 
water,  was  strorgly  intrenched  to  its  ed^e,  and  the 
intrenchment  well  lined  with  heavy  artillery.  A 
battery  about  half  way  up  the  mount,  sustained  and 
covered  these  lower  works. 

The  enemy,  with  their  usual  industry,  had  joined 
those  two  posts  by  a  bridge  of  communication 
thrown  over  the  inlet.  This  was  like  many  other  of 
their  performances,  a  great  and  most  laborious  work. 
The  bridge  was  supported  on  12  sunken  piers  of 
very  large  timber  planted  at  nearly  equal  distances ; 
the  spaces  between  these  were  filled  with  separate 
floats,  each  about  50  feet  long  &  12  feet  wide, 
strongly  fastened  together  with  chains  and  rivets, 
and  as  effectually  attached  to  the  sunken  pillars 
on  the  Lake  Champlain  side  of  the  bridge.  It  was 
defended  by  a  boom  composed  of  very  large  pieces 
of  timber  fastened  together  by  riveted  bolts,  and 
double  chains  made  of  iron  an  inch  and  an  half 
square.  Thus  not  only  a  communication  was  main- 
tained between  these  two  posts,  but  all  access  by 
water  from  the  northern  side  was  totally  cut  off. 
But  to  return,  soon  after  the  action,  about  200 
prisoners  with  a  Col'  Hale  '^'   came  in    to   us,    and 

^®^  Nathan  Hale  was  born  in  Hampstead,  New  Hampshire, 
September  23,  1743.  His  father,  Moses  Hale,  removed  to 
Rindge,  a  border  settlement  of  his  native  State,  when  he  was 
about  seventeen  years  of  age,  and  died  two  years  later. 
Nathan,  who  had  become  a  farmer  and  mercliant,  was  mar- 
ried on  January  28,  1766,  to  Abigail  Grout  of  Lunenburg, 
Mass.     From  this  date  he  appears  as  an  active  and  influential 


Mtfi 


iiii 


2l6 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


■ 


''   fi  t 


i  . 


them  we  obliged  to  fell  trees  in  order  to  make  a 
breast  work  for  our  protection,  not  knowing  but  the 
eneniy  might  be  reinforced  and  come  again  to  the 
attack.  We  were  lery  badly  off  for  provisions,  and 
nothing  but  water  to  drink,  and  tho  it  rain  \  very 
hard  after  the  engagement  (for  the  day  before 
and  while  the  action  lasted,  it  was  I  may  say  burn- 
ing hot  weather),  we  had  no  covering  to  shelter  us, 
our  poor  huts  being  a  wretched  security  against  the 
heavy  rain  [which]  poured  on  us. 

8^^  About  1 1  o'clock  the  Germans  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  Reidzel  marched  from  us  towards 


citizen  of  the  town,  and  when,  in  1774,  a  company  of  minute- 
men  was  formed  in  Rindge,  he  became  its  commander,  and 
was  commissioned  by  the  Provincial  Congress  a  captain  of 
militia,  June  2,  1774.  "The  people  were  nervously  waiting 
for  the  clouds  to  break,  or,  if  needs  be,  for  hostilities  to  com- 
mence," when  the  news  of  the  fight  at  Lexington  reached 
them,  and  Hale,  at  the  head  of  his  command  of  fifty  men, 
marched  at  once  to  Cambridge  and  tendered  his  services  to  , 
Washington,  which  were  accepted.  He  participated  in  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  was  commissioned  as  follows: 
June  6,  1775,  major  of  Colonel  Reed's  regiment,  the  Third 
New  Hampshire  Foot ;  January  i,  1776,  major  of  the  Second 
New  Hampshire  Foot ;  November  8th,  lieutenant-colonel  of 
the  second  battalion  of  New  Hampshire  troops,  and,  April 
2,  1777,  colonel  of  the  same.  Hale  was  held  a  prisoner  by 
the  British,  and  died  in  captivity,  September  23,  1780.  Much 
discussion  has  been  held  over  his  conduct  in  surrendering, 
and  different  opinions  still  exist  regarding  it.  These  have 
been  ably  presented  by  Colonel  Rogers,  who,  as  usual,  has 
not  left  much  for  those  coming  after  him  to  say  on  the  sub- 
ject. Vide  History  of  Rindge  (Stearns),  Boston,  1875,  pp. 
85-177,  $4.1,  et passim;  Hadden's  Journal  and  Orderly  Books, 
Appendix  15. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


217 


Skeensborough/^^  (where  it  was  supposed  the  main 
body  of  our  army  had  by  that  time  arrived)  to  our 
very  great  amazement,  and  which  I  beheve  arose  from 
some  little  jealousy  between  the  two  Generals. '^^  gy 
this  movement,  we  were  left  with  about  600  fighting 
men,  all  our  wounded  to  take  care  of,  and  a  number 
of  prisoners,  in  the  midst  of  thick  woods,  and  but  little 
knowledge  of  the  country  around,  also  at  too  great 

^^^Skenesborough  was  named  for  Captain  Phillip  Skene,  a 
British  officer,  who  was  under  General  Abercrombie  in  the 
war  with  the  French,  in  1758.  Becoming  in  that  war  familiar 
with  the  region  of  country  about  Lake  Champlain,  he  ob- 
tained extensive  grants  of  land  in  the  vicinity,  sold  out  his 
commission  in  the  army,  and  began  a  settlement  to  which  his 
own  name  became  attached.  He  commonly  went  by  the  title 
of  Colonel  Skene.  The  following  incident  related  by  Palmer, 
is  worthy  repeating :  "  The  history  of  the  surprise  of  Skenes- 
borough  is  embellished  by  an  account  of  a  singular  discovery 
made  there  by  the  patriots.  It  is  said  that  some  of  Herrick's 
men,  while  searching  Skene's  house,  found  the  dead  body 
of  a  female  deposited  in  the  cellar,  where  it  had  been  pre- 
served for  many  years.  This  was  the  body  of  Mrs.  Skene, 
the  deceased  wife  of  the  elder  Skene,  who  was  then  in 
Europe,  and  who  was  then  in  receipt  of  an  annuity  which 
had  been  devised  to  his  wife  *  ivhile  she  remaitted  above 
groundy  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco;  Survey  of 
Washington  County,  NewYc.K  (Fitch);  History  of  Lake 
Champlain  (Palmer),  p.  104. 

163  Digby  is  mistaken  in  this  surmise.  There  was,  as  we 
well  know,  considerable  jealousy  between  the  German  and 
English  portions  of  the  army ;  but  in  this  instance,  the 
advance  of  Riedesel  was  part  of  a  plan  which  resulted  in 
success  to  the  British  arms.  Had  not  Riedesel  marched  to 
the  support  of  the  troops  under  Eraser,  who  had  preceded 
him,  it  is  probable  that  the  Americans  would  have  been  the 
victors  in  the  conflict  which  followed.  Vide  Memoirs  of 
Major-General  Riedesel,  vol.  i,  pp.  114-117. 

28 


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2l8 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


a  distance  from  our  Army  to  expect  any  reinforce- 
ments ;  and  by  our  scouts  a  certainty  of  the  enemys 
main  body,  commanded  by  gene'-al  St.  Clair,'^*  not 
above  six  miles  from  us  at  Castletown ;  tho  we  after- 
wards found  that  he,  since  his  retreat  from  Ticon- 
deroga  with  the  army  under  his  ( ommand,  was  com- 
pleatly  dispirited  and  thought  of  nothing  but  getting 
farther  from  us.     In  this  situation  General  Frazier 


'^*  Arthur  St.  Clair  was  born  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  in 
1734,  and  accompanied  Admiral  Boscawen  to  America  in 
1759.  He  was  a  lieutenant  under  Wolfe,  and  was  with  that 
brave  man  when  he  fell  on  the  Heights  of  Abraham.  After 
the  peace,  he  was  for  a  short  time  in  command  of  Fort 
Ligonier,  in  Pennsylvania ;  but,  becoming  enamored  of  a 
farmer's  life,  he  left  the  army  and  assumed  the  duties  of  a 
civilian.  The  war  of  the  Revolution  found  him  surrounded 
by  a  rising  family  and  with  every  thing  about  him  to  make 
life  happy ;  but  he  felt  that  duty  called  him  from  the  happi- 
ness of  home-life,  and  he  at  once  cast  in  his  lot  with  the 
patriots.  He  was  appointed  a  colonel  in  the  Continental 
army,  in  January,  1776,  and  ordered  to  raise  a  regiment. 
Within  six  weeks  he  had  gathered  and  equipped  his  regi- 
ment, and  was  on  the  march  to  Canada.  He  was  appointed 
a  major-general,  in  February,  1777,  and  on  the  fifth  of  June, 
was  ordered  to  the  command,  which  Gates  had  declined,  of 
Ticonderoga.  He  arrived  there  on  the  twelfth  and  assumed 
command.  He  has  perhaps  been  censured  unjustly  for  his 
surrender  of  that  post,  but  he  certainly  showed  great  want 
of  foresight  and  knowledge  in  neglecting  to  fortify  Mount 
Defiance,  which  commanded  his  works,  and  for  not  destroy- 
ing his  stores  before  retreating.  Palmer  says  :  "  When  Bur- 
goyne  placed  his  batteries  upon  the  summit  of  Mount  Defi- 
ance, he  effectually  destroyed  all  hopes  of  resistance  on  the 
part  of  the  Americans.  Their  only  alternative  was  to  sur- 
render or  evacuate  the  works.  By  adopting  the  latter  course, 
St.  Clair  saved  the  greater  portion  of  his  garrison  and  pre- 
served the  nucleus  of  an  army,  which   ultimately  baffled 


w' 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


219 


was  obliged  to  detach  a  capt's  command  with  the 
prisoners  to  Ticonderoga  that  night,  which  weakened 
us  a  good  deal,  during  which,  it  rained  very  hard, 
and  about  day  break. 

9*^  we  received  orders  to  march  towards  Skeens- 
borough.  We  were  obliged  to  leave  all  our  wounded 
behind  us  with  a  sub  alternguard,'^^  who  received 
orders,  if  attacked  to  surrender  and  rely  on  the  mercy 


Burgoyne  and  compelled  him  to  capitulate.  At  the  moment, 
however,  all  classes  of  people  were  astonished  at  the  unex- 
pected result.  *  It  is  an  event  of  chagrin  and  surprise,'  says 
Washington,  *  not  apprehended,  nor  within  the  compass  of 
my  reasoning. '  The  Council  of  Safety  of  New  York  signalized 
it  as  a  measure  *  highly  reprehensible  '  and  '  probably  crim- 
inal.' "  People  asserted  that  Schuyler  and  St.  Clair  were 
bribed  by  Burgoyne,  who  fired  silver  bullets  against  the  fort, 
which  Schuyler  and  St.  Clair  gathered  and  divided.  Even 
Thatcher,  in  his  Military  Journal,  gravely  denies  the  report. 
St.  Clair  suffered  much  from  the  severe  criticisms  passed 
upon  his  conduct,  from  which,  indeed,  he  never  recovered, 
although  he  remained  in  the  service.  In  1781  he  was  in 
command  of  the  troops  at  Philadelphia  for  the  protection  of 
Congress,  and,  in  1781,  was  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  and, 
after  '■he  surrender  of  Cornwallis,  joined  General  Greene  in 
the  south.  He  was  a  member  of  Congress  in  1786,  and 
president  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  1787.  He 
was  governor  of  the  North-.western  Territory  from  1788 
until  1802.  He  died  at  Laurel  Hill,  Pennsylvania,  August 
31,  1 81 8.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco  ;  History  of  Lake 
Champlain,  p.  146;  The  Writings  of  George  Washington 
(Sparks),  vol.  4,  p.  493. 

^®^  It  was  Sergeant  Lamb  who  was  left  in  charge  of  the 
wounded,  and  his  account  of  his  experiences  is  very  inter- 
esting. He  says :  "  It  was  a  distressing  sight  to  see  the 
wounded  men  bleeding  on  the  ground ;  and  what  made  it 
more  so,  the  rain  came  pouring  down  like  a  deluge  upon  us. 


220 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


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of  the  enemy.  This  was  a  severe  order,  but  it  could 
not  be  helped  in  our  situation.  We  had  about  30 
miles  to  march  and  for  the  first  six,  we  every  minute 
expected  to  be  attacked,  and  which  I  must  say  we 
were  not  so  well  provided  for,  as  on  the  seventh,  part 
of  our  ammunition  being  expended,  and  our  force 
much  reduced  ;  this  genl  Frazier  prudently  foresaw, 
and  though  he  wished  to  avoid  it,  yet  by  his  orders, 
we  marched  in  such  a  form  as  to  sustain  an  action 
with  as  little  loss  as  possible.  By  the  knowledge  of 
our  Indians,  we  struck  into  a  path  that  led  us  to 
Skeensborough,  after  a  most  fatigueing  march  thro 
rivers,  swamps  and  a  desolate  wilderness.  The  enemy 
had  evacuated  that  place  some  days  before,  not  think- 


And  still,  to  add  to  the  distress  of  the  sufferers,  there  was 
nothing  to  dress  their  wounds,  as  the  small  medicine-box, 
which  was  filled  with  salve,  was  left  behind  with  Surgeon 
Shelly  and  Captain  Montgomery  at  the  time  of  our  move- 
ment up  the  hill.  The  poor  fellows  earnestly  entreated  me 
to  tie  up  their  wounds.  Immediately  I  took  off  my  shirt, 
tore  it  up,  and,  with  the  help  of  a  soldier's  wife  (the  only 
woman  that  was  with  us,  and  who  kept  closely  by  her  hus- 
band's side  during  the  engagement),  made  some  bandages, 
stopped  the  bleeding  of  their  wounds,  and  conveyed  them 
in  blankets  to  a  small  hut  about  two  miles  in  our  rear.  Our 
regiment  now  marched  back  to  Skeensborough,  leaving  me 
behind  to  attend  the  wounded,  with  a  small  guard  for  our 
protection.  I  was  directed,  that  in  case  I  should  be  either 
surrounded  or  overpowered  by  the  Americans,  to  deliver  a 
letter,  which  General  Burgoyne  gave  me,  to  their  command- 
ing officer.  Here  I  remained  seven  days  with  wounded  men, 
expecting  every  moment  to  be  taken  prisoner."  Vide  Jour- 
nal of  Occurrences  During  the  Late  American  War,  p.  143, 
et  seq. 


Lieutenant  Dtgbys  Journal. 


221 


ing  it  tenable,  and  retired  to  Fort  Anne,'^^  where  they 
were  pursued  on  the  8^^  by  the  9^*^  regiment,  and 
defeated  with  great  loss,  though  vastly  superior  in 
numbers,  the  9^^  not  having  above  200  men  engaged, 
which  was,  I  think,  risking  a  great  deal  to  send  so 
small  a  body,  when  the  47^^  and  53^^  regiments  were 
then  at  Skeensborough,  and  might  as  well  have  sup- 
ported them.  Hereafter  will  be  seen  the  conse- 
quences of  detaching  such  small  numbers  from  the 
main  body  of  the  army,  as  it  ha^  ilways  been  the 
wish  of  the  Americans  tc  avoid  x  general  engage- 
ment, except  they  have  a  gre?  superiority,  and  to 
surround  small  parties  of  our^ ,  and  get  them  into  a 
wood,  where  the  discipline  of  our  Troops  is  not  of 
such  force.  We  had  but  one  officer  killed,  and  Capt" 
M^Gomery'^'  wounded  and  taken  prisoner,  with  the 

166  Port  Anne,  named  thus  in  honor  of  the  queen,  was 
built  in  1709  by  the  expedition  under  Colonel  Nicholson, 
which  was  organized  against  the  French  in  that  year.  It 
was  built  of  timber  and  surrounded  by  a  palisade,  and  was 
intended  only  to  protect  the  garrison  against  the  fire  of 
musketry. 

167  William  Stone  Montgomery  was  the  only  son  of  Sir 
William  Montgomery  of  Dublin,  and  was  born  August  4, 
1754.  He  entered  the  British  military  service  at  the  age 
of  seventeen,  his  first  commission  as  cornet  in  the  Ninth 
Dragoons  being  dated  December  16,  1771.     On  March  20, 

1775,  he  exchanged  into  the  Forth-fourth  Foot,  at  which 
date  he  received  a  lieutenant's  commission,  and  January  9, 

1776,  was  commissioned  a  captain  in  the  Ninth  Foot.  He 
was  wounded  at  Fort  Ann  on  the  ninth  of  July,  and  was 
taken  prisoner.  The  report  of  General  Burgoyne  in  the  His- 
tory of  the  Ninth  Foot  contains  the  following  reference  to 
Captain    Montgomery :    "  An    officer   of  great   merit,   was 


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222 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


surgeon.  At  Skeensborough,  the  whole  army  rendez- 
voused, where  Divine  service  was  performed,  returning 
God  thanks  for  our  late  successes,  after  which  a  feu- 
de-joi  was  fired,  beginning  from  the  ships  and  great 
guns,  and  answered  by  the  small  arms  of  the  army. 
Capt"  Gardner '^^  went  from  that  to  England  express 

wounded  early  in  the  action,  and'  was  in  the  act  of  being 
dressed  by  the  surgeon,  when  the  regiment  changed  ground  ; 
being  unable  to  help  himself,  he  and  the  surgeon  were  taken 
prisoners."  Lamb  also  speaks  of  the  event  as  follows : 
"  Captain  Montgomery,  son  to  Sir  W.  Montgomery,  bart. 
of  Dublin,  was  wounded  in  the  leg  and  taken  prisoner,  with 
the  surgeon  "who  was  dressing  his  wound,  just  before  we 
retired  up  the  hill.  I  very  narrowly  escaped  myself,  from 
being  taken  prisoner  at  that  time,  as  I  was  just  in  the  act 
of  assisting  the  surgeon  in  dressing  the  captain's  wound, 
when  the  enemy  came  pouring  down  upon  us  like  a  mighty 
torrent,  in  consequence  whereof,  I  was  the  last  man  that 
ascended  the  hill."  Although  Captain  Montgomery  was 
wounded  in  the  leg,  and  from  Lamb's  account  it  would 
appear  not  seriously,  for  some  cause  of  which  we  are  ignor- 
ant, he  did  not  recover,  as  he  is  reported  in  Betham's 
Baronetage  to  have  died  in  America  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
years.  This  is  an  error  as  he  was  twenty-three  years  of  age. 
Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Historical  Record  of  the 
Ninth  Foot ;  Journal  of  Occurrences  During  the  Late 
American  War,  pp.  142,  et  seq. ;  Betham's  Baronetage,  vol. 
5,  p.  474;  British  Family  Antiquity,  vol.  7,  p.  194. 

^^  Henry  Farington  Gardner  entered  the  army  and  was 
commissioned  a  cornet  of  the  Sixteenth  Light  Dragoons  — 
Burgoyne's  regiment  —  on  May  22,  1761.  The  next  year  he 
served  with  Burgoyne  in  his  brilliant  campaign  in  Portugal. 
On  June  8,  1768,  he  was  made  a  lieutenant,  and  on  the  20th 
of  July  succeeding,  adjutant  of  his  regiment.  He  became 
captain,  November  6,  1772,  and  accompanied  Burgoyne  to 
America  as  aide-decamp.  He  reached  Quebec  on  the  twenty- 
second,  five  days  after  leaving  Burgoyne's  camp,  and  found 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


223 


with  the  account  of  our  successes  since  the  takeing 
of  the  field.  I  shall  here  insert  the  General  orders  to 
the  Army. 


Head  quarters  of  the  King's  army 
AT  Skeensborough,   io^^ /ufy,  1777 


.} 


On  the  6^''  July,  the  enemy  were  dislodged  from 
Ticonderoga  by  the  mere  countenance  and  activity 
of  the  Army,  and  driven  on  the  same  day  beyond 
Skeensborough  on  the  right,  and  to  Hubberton  on 
the  left,  with  the  loss  of  all  their  Artillery,  and  five 
of  their  armed  vessels  taken  and  blown  up  by  the 
spirited  conduct  of  Captain  Carter  of  the  Artillery, 
with  a  part  of  his  Brigade  of  gun  boats,  a  great 
quantity  of  amunition,  provisions  and  stores  of  all 
sorts,  and  the  greatest  part  of  their  baggage.  On 
the  7*^  Brigadier  General  Frazier,  at  the  head  of  a 
little  more  than  half  the  Advanced  Corps,  came  up 
with  near  2000  of  the  enemy  strongly  posted,  attacked 
and  defeated  them  with  the  loss  on  the  enemy's  part 
of  their  principal  officers,  200  killed  on  the  spot,  a  much 
larger  number  taken,  and  about  200  made  prisoners. 
Major  general  Reidzel,  with  the  advance  guard  con- 

a  vessel  —  the  Royal  George  —  in  readiness  to  bear  him  to 
England.  He  sailed  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty-third,  and 
reached  England  the  twenty-second  of  August.  He  did  not  re- 
turn to  America.  He  was  made  major  of  the  Light  Dragoons, 
September  11,  1781,  and  attained  the  army  rank  of  lieuten- 
ant-colonel, November  18,  1790,  when  his  name  disappears 
from  the  army  lists.  For  a  more  particular  account,  refer- 
ence may  be  had  to  Hadden's  Journal  and  Orderly  Books, 
p.  242.  •  .      > 


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224 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


sisting  of  the  Chasseurs  Company,  and  40  grenadiers 
and  Light  Infantry,  arrived  in  time  to  sustain  General 
Frazier,  and  by  his  judicious  orders  and  a  spirited 
execution  of  them,  obtained  a  share  for  himself  and 
for  his  troops  in  the  glory  of  the  action. 

On  the  8*^  Lieutenant  CoP  Hill,^^^  at  the  head  of 
the  9^^  regiment,  was  attacked  near  Fort  Anne  by 
more  than  six  times  his  number,  and  repulsed  the 
enemy  with  great  loss,  after  a  continued  fire  of  three 
hours.  In  consequence  of  this  action.  Fort  Anne  was 
burned  and  abandoned,  and  a  party  of  this  army  is 
now  in  possession  of  the  country  on  the  other  side. 
These  rapid  successes,  after  exciting  a  proper  sense 
of  what  we  owe  to  God,  entitle  the  Troops  in  general 
to  the  warmest  praise  ;  and  particular  distinction  is  due 
to    Brigd"^   Genl   Frazier,  who  by   his   conduct   and 

^^^John  Hill  entered  the  Twenty-fourth  Foot,  March  15, 
1747,  as  a  lieutenant;  became  adjutant,  August  25,  1756; 
captain-lieutenant,  March  9,  1757;  captain  in  the  Thirteenth 
Foot,  December  i,  1758;  major,  October  10,  1765;  lieuten- 
ant-colonel in  the  army,  September  nth,  and  of  the  Ninth 
Foot,  November  10,  1775.  Wilkinson's  account  of  the  action 
is  somewhat  different  from  this  of  Burgoyne.  He  says : 
"  The  corps  which  accompanied  General  Burgoyne  to 
Skeenesborough,  were  spread  out  to  keep  up  and  increase 
the  panic  produced  by  the  loss  of  Ticonderoga ;  the  Ninth 
Regiment,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hill,  v/as  sent  in  pur- 
suit of  Colonel  Long  and  his  detachment,  consisting  of  the 
invalids  and  convalescents,  with  his  regiment  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  strong,  making  in  the  whole  four  or  five  hun- 
dred men.  Colonel  Long,  finding  himself  pressed,  advanced 
and  met  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hill,  and  an  action  ensued,  in 
which  the  British  officer  claimed  the  victory  ;  but  it  is  a  fact 
that  the  Ninth  Regiment  had  been  beaten  and  was  retreat- 


I 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


225 


bravery,  supported  by  the  same  qualities  in  the  offi- 
cers, and  soldiers  under  his  command  effected  an 
exploit  of  material  service  to  the  King,  and  of  signal 
honour  to  the  profession  of  Arms.  This  Corps  have 
the  farther  merit  of  having  supported  the  fatigue  of 
bad  weather,  without  bread  and  without  murmur. 
Divine  service  will  be  performed  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing at  the  head  of  the  1  ie,  and  at  the  head  of  the 
Advanced  Corps,  and  at  Sun  set  on  the  same  day,  a 
Feu  de  joy  will  be  fired  with  cannon  and  small  arms 
at  Ticonderoga,  Crown  Point,  the  camp  at  Skeens- 
borough  and  the  camp  at  Castletown,  and  the  post  of 
Bremen's  corps.  Sunday,  being  a  day  set  apart  for 
rejoicing,  all  working  parties  are  to  be  remitted,  ex- 
cept such  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  cleanliness  of 
the  camp.  Should  the  weather  be  fair,  the  tents  are 
to  be  struck  at  5  in  the  evening,  and  the  troops  to 
form  for  the  Feu-de-joy  an  hour  before  sun  set  in  order 

ing,  and,  but  for  the  entire  failure  of  Colonel  Long's  ammu- 
nition, the  lieutenant-colonel  must  have  been  made  prisoner, 
as  well  as  Captain  Montgomery  of  that  regiment,  who  was 
wounded  and  left  on  the  field,  when,  as  General  Burgoyne 
tells  us,  *  Colonel  Hill  found  it  necessary  to  change  his  posi- 
tion in  the  heat  of  action ; '  but,  in  truth,  when  his  corps 
was  obliged  to  retreat,  and  Colonel  Long,  for  want  of  ammu- 
nition, could  not  pursue  him."  It  was  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hill  who  secreted  the  colors  of  the  Ninth  Regiment  in  his 
baggage,  contrary  to  the  stipulated  terms  of  surrender,  and 
finally  presented  them  to  the  king,  being  rewarded  for  the 
act  by  an  appointment  on  the  royal  staff,  with  the  army  rank 
of  colonel,  May  16,  1782.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in 
loco ;  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  p.  190;  Historical 
Record  of  the  Ninth  Foot  (Cannon),  p.  32. 


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226 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


of  Battle.  After  the  Feu  de  joy  the  tents  are  to  be 
pitched  af^ain.  Captain  Gardner  is  going  to  England  ; 
officers  who  have  letters  to  send,  to  leave  them  at 
head  quarters,  before  orderly  time  the  14  inst. 

We  were  obliged  to  remain  a  long  time  at  Skeens- 
borough  on  account  of  getting  horses  and  wagons 
from  Canada ;  the  Contractor  of  which,  must  have 
realized  a  great  sum,  each  horse  standing  Govern- 
ment in  about  £\^  if  lost  or  killed  in  the  service, 
exclusive  of  paying  the  driver,  ^l"^.  &^,  and  the 
King's  horses,  (so  called)  from  our  great  park  of 
Artillery  (for  this  part  of  the  service  was  particu- 
larly attended  to  and  the  Brass  train  that  was  sent 
out  on  this  expedition  was  perhaps  the  finest  and 
probably  the  most  excellently  supplied  as  to  officers 
and  men  that  had  ever  been  allotted  to  second  the 
operations  of  an  army  which  did  not  far  exceed 
the  second  in  number)  amounted  to  a  considerable 
number,  indeed  the  expenses  of  Government  were 
uncommonly  great,  as  I  have  heard  it  computed  that 
every  man  in  our  service  through  the  whole  of 
America,  including  loyalists,  women  and  every  other 
hanger  on  to  the  camps,  &*",  allowing  for  transports, 
service  and  a  thousand  other  etceteras,  stood  govern- 
ment no  less  than  five  shillings  a  day  for  each  per- 
son, and  it  was  thought  that  at  this  time,  and  indeed 
through  the  whole  war,  above  100,000  were  daily 
allowed  rations,  or  provisions.  Our  heavy  baggage 
&''  was  mostly  then  sent  to  stores  appointed  at  Tlcon- 
deroga,  as  there  was  no  longer  any  water  carriage. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


227 


m 


The  mare  I  had  made  prize  of  was  full  able  to  carry 
as  much  baggage  as  I  required,  and  saved  me  the 
expense  of  purchasing  one  for  that  purpose  ;  and 
I  suppose  at  our  next  moving  we  had  almost  as  many 
horses  as  men,  many  officers  having  3  or  4,  tho  it  was 
strongly  recommended  by  the  general  to  take  as  little 
baggage  as  possible,  which  advice  I  followed,  leaving 
my  bedding  behind  and  making  use  of  a  Buffalo  skin, 
with  a  cloak  to  cover  me  at  nights.  That  baggage  we 
never  after  saw,  it  being  through  necessity  or  acci- 
dent all  destroyed.  Many  here  were  of  opinion  the 
general  had  not  the  least  business  in  bringing  the 
army  to  Skeensborough,  after  the  precipitate  flight 
of  the  enemy  from  Ticonderoga,  and  tho  we  had 
gained  a  complete  victory  over  them,  both  at  Fort 
Anne  and  Hubberton,  yet  no  visible  advantage  was 
likely  to  flow  from  either  except  prooving  the  good- 
ness of  our  troops  at  the  expense  of  some  brave  men. 
They  were  also  of  opinion  we  should  have  pushed 
directly  to  Fort  George, '^°  where  it  was  pretty  certain 
they  had  above  400  wagons,  4  horses  in  each,  with 

'^"Fort  George  was  erected  in  1757,  after  the  destruction 
of  Fort  William  Henry  and  the  massacre  of  a  large  portion 
of  the  garrison  by  the  Indians  under  Montcalm.  It  was 
about  a  mile  south-east  of  the  site  of  Fort  William  Henry, 
which  was  not  rebuilt  after  its  destruction  by  the  French, 
and  stood  on  an  eminence  about  half  a  mile  from  the  lake. 
It  is  described  by  Hadden  as  follows:  '■'•Fort  George  v^\\\z\i 
stands  near  the  water  at  the  end  of  the  Lake  (George)  is  a 
small  square  Fort  faced  with  Masonry  and  contains  Barracks 
for  about  a  hundred  Men  secured  from  Cannon  Shot.  This 
Fort  cou'd  not  stand  a  Siege,  being  commanded,  &  too  con- 


PfT 


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228 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


stores  &^  and  not  above  700  men,  which  would 
have  enabled  us  to  push  forward,  without  waiting  for 
horses  from  Canada  to  bring  on  our  heavy  artillery, 
which  these  discontented  persons  declared,  was  much 
greater  than  we  had  the  smallest  use  for.  Light  field 
pieces  were  all  we  wanted  exclusive  of  the  heavy 
cannon,  which  was  sent  out  to  retake  Quebec,  in  case 
the  enemy  had  succeeded  in  their  plans  the  winter 
of  1775.  They  also  avered  that  after  the  late  actions, 
the  enemy  were  struck  with  such  a  panic,  and  so  dis- 
persed that  by  that  movement  we  should  not  have 
given  them  time  to  collect ;  which  our  remaining  at 
Skeensborough  gave  them  full  sufficient  time  to  do  ; 
but  I  make  not  the  least  doubt.  Gen  Burgoyne  had 
his  proper  reasons  for  so  acting  though  contrary  to 
the  opinion  of  many.  The  country  round  Skeens- 
borough swarms  with  rattle  snakes,  the  bite  of  which 
is,  I  believe,  mortal.  They  alarm  the  person  near 
by  their  rattles,  which  providence  has  wisely  ordered 
for  that  purpose,  and  from  whence  they  take  their 
name. 

20.  We  were  joined  by  a  very  numerous  nation 
of  Indians  from  the  Ottawas,  and  who  surpassed  all 
others   I   had  before  seen   in  size  and  appearance 

fined  not  to  be  soon  reduced  by  Bombardment.  The  Rebels 
before  they  abandon'd  it  had  endeavour'd  to  destroy  the 
defences  and  actually  blew  up  the  Magazine  in  the  side  next 
the  Water,  which  demolish'd  that  place."  It  served  princi- 
pally as  a  magazine  of  supplies,  and  was  a  connecting  link 
between  Ticonderoga  and  Fort  Edward.  It  was  named 
Fort  George  in  honor  of  the  Duke  of  York. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


229 


when  assembled  in  Congress,  which  was  well  worth 
seeing,  they  being  painted  in  their  usual  stile  and 
decked  out  with  feathers  of  a  variety  of  birds,  and 
skins  of  wild  beasts  slain  by  them,  as  trophys  of 
their  courage  ;  and  general  Burgoyne,  by  the  help 
of  interpreters,  informed  them  of  the  cause  of  the 
war  &^  8i!^\  when  they  by  a  groan  expressed  their 
approbation  of  what  he  had  advanced,  and  the  meas- 
ures he  intended  to  pursue,  also  their  readiness  in 
taking  up  the  hatchet  to  assist  the  troops  of  their 
father,  (King  George)  which  was  consented  to  by 
the  general  on  a  solemn  promise  from  them  of  not 
scalping  except  the  dead.  They  had  brought  a 
number  of  Indian  toys,  most  of  which  we  purchased 
from  them,  but  were  lost  with  our  other  baggage  as 
will  be  hereafter  seen. 

About  this  time,  a  letter  addressed  to  general 
Burgoyne,  burlesqueing  his  proclamation,  (see  page 
3'^')  appeared,  which  perhaps  may  entertain  the 
reader. — 

To  John  Burgoyne  E^'*  Lieut  General  of  his 
majesty's  armies  in  America,  Colonel  of  the  Queens 
Regiment  of  Light  dragoons,  governor  of  Fort  Wil- 
liam in  North  Britain,  one  of  the  Representatives  of 
the  Commons  of  Great  Britain  and  commanding  an 
army  and  fleet  employed  on  an  expedition  from 
Canada  &^  &^  &". 

Most  high,  most  mighty,  most  puissant,  and  sub- 
lime  general  !     When  the  forces  under  your   com- 


171 


Vide  ante  p.  189. 


f^^mw^nt^m^mw 


^"^m 


ii 


^h!l 


230 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Jcurnal. 


mand  arrived  at  Quebec,  in  order  to  act  in  concert 
and  upon  a  common  principle  with  the  numerous 
fleets  &  armies,  which  already  display  in  every 
quarter  of  America  the  justice  &  mercy  of  your  King  ; 
we,  the  reptils  of  America,  were  struck  with  unusual 
trepidation  and  astonishment.  But  what  words  can 
express  the  plentitude  of  our  horror,  when  the 
Colonel  of  the  Queen's  regiment  of  light  Dragoons 
advanced  towards  Ticonderoga?  The  mountains 
shook  before  thee,  and  the  trees  of  the  forest  bowed 
their  leafy  heads.  The  vast  Lakes  of  the  north  were 
chilled  at  thy  presence,  and  the  mighty  cataracts 
stopped  their  tremendous  career  and  were  suspended 
in  awe  at  thy  approach.  Judge  then,  oh  !  ineffable 
Governor  of  Fort  William  in  North  Britain,  what 
must  have  been  the  terror,  dismay,  and  despair  that 
overspread  this  paltry  continent  of  America,  and  us, 
its  wretched  inhabitants  !  Dark  and  dreary  indeed, 
was  the  prospect  before  us,  till  like  the  sun  in  the 
Horizon,  your  most  gracious  and  irresistible  procla- 
mation opened  the  doors  of  mercy  and  snatched  us,  as 
it  were,  from  the  jaws  of  annihilation.  We  foolishly 
thought,  blind  as  we  were,  that  your  gracious  master's 
fleets  and  armies  were  come  to  destroy  us  and  our 
liberties ;  but  we  are  happy  in  hearing  from  you,  and 
who  can  doubt  what  you  assert,  that  they  were  called 
forth  for  the  sole  purpose  of  restoring  the  rights  of 
the  Constitution  to  a  froward,  stubborn  generation  ? 
And  it  is  for  this,  oh  !  sublime,  Lieut  Genl !  that 
you  have  given   yourself   the   trouble  to  cross  the 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


231 


wide  Atlantic,  and  with  incredible  fatigue  traversed 
uncultivated  wilds  ;  and  we  ungratefully  refused  the 
profered  blessing  ?  To  restore  the  rights  of  the  Con- 
stitution, you  have  called  together  an  amiable  host 
of  savages,  and  turned  them  loose  to  scalp  our 
women  and  children  and  lay  our  country  waste.  This 
they  have  performed  with  their  usual  skill  and  clem- 
ency, and  we  remain  insensible  for  the  benefit,  and 
unthankful  for  so  much  goodness.  Our  Congress 
have  declared  Independence,  and  our  assemblies,  as 
your  highness  justly  observes,  have  most  wickedly 
imprisoned  the  avowed  friends  of  that  power  with 
which  they  are  at  war,  and  most  profanely  compelled 
those  whose  conscience  will  not  permit  them  to 
fight,  to  pay  some  small  part  towards  the  expenses 
their  country  is  at  in  supporting  what  is  called  a  nec- 
essary and  defensive  war.  If  we  go  on  thus  in  our 
obstinacy  and  ingratitude,  what  can  we  expect,  but 
that  you  should  in  your  anger  give  a  stretch  to  the 
Indian  forces  under  your  direction,  amounting  to 
thousands,  to  overtake  and  destroy  us,  or  what  is  ten 
times  worse,  that  you  should  withdraw  your  fleets 
and  armies  and  leave  us  to  our  own  misery,  without 
completing  the  benevolent  task  you  have  begun  in 
restoring  to  us  the  rights  of  the  Constitution. — We 
submit,  v/e  submit  most  puissant  CoP  of  the  Queen's 
regiment  of  Light  Dragoons  &  Governor  of  Fort 
William  in  North  Britain,  *ve  offer  our  heads  to  the 
scalping  knife,  and  our  bellies  to  the  bayonet.  Who 
can  resist  the  terror  of  your  arms  ?  who  can  resist  the 


tmsaMmstm 


232 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


■  w 


'1: 


ii 
f 


force  of  your  eloquence  ?  The  invitation  you  have 
made  in  the  consciousness  of  Christianity,  your  royal 
master's  clemency,  and  the  honour  of  soldiership  we 
thankfully  accept ;  The  blood  of  the  slain,  the  cries 
of  the  injured  virgins  and  innocent  children,  and  the 
never  ceasing  sighs  and  groans  of  starving  wretches, 
now  languishing  in  the  gaols  and  prison  ships  of 
New  York,  call  on  us  in  vain,  while  your  sublime 
proclamation  is  sounding  in  our  ears.  Forgive  us, 
oh  !  our  country  !  forgive  us  dear  posterity  !  forgive 
us  all  ye  foreign  powers !  who  are  anxiously  watch- 
ing our  conduct  in  this  important  struggle,  if  we 
yield  implicitly  to  the  persuasive  tongue  of  the  most 
elegant  CoP  of  the  Queen's  regiment  of  Light  dra- 
goons. Forbear  then,  thou  magnanimous  Lieut  gen- 
eral, forbear  to  denounce  vengeance  against  us ! 
forbear  to  give  a  stretch  to  those  restorers  of  the 
Constitution's  rights,  the  Indians  under  your  direc- 
tions !  let  not  the  messengers  of  wrath  &  justice 
await  us  in  the  field,  and  devastation,  famine  and 
every  concomitant  horror,  bar  our  return  to  the  alle- 
giance of  a  prince,  who  by  his  royal  will,  would  de- 
prive us  of  every  blessing  of  life  with  all  possible 
clemency.  We  are  domestic  ;  we  are  industrious  ;  we 
are  infirm  and  timid ;  we  shall  remain  quietly  at 
home  and  not  refnove  our  cattle,  our  corn,  or  forage, 
in  hopes  that  you  will  come  at  the  head  of  troops,  in 
the  full  powers  of  health,  discipline,  and  valour,  and 
take  charge  of  them  for  yourselves. —  Behold  our 
wives  and  daughters ;  our  flocks  and  herds ;  our  goods 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


233 


and  chattels,  are  they  not  at  the  mercy  of  our  lord 
and  king,  and  of  his  lieutenant  general.  Member  of 
the  house  of  Commons  and  Governor  of  Fort  William 
in  North  Britain  ? 

Saratoga,  July  lo'^" —  1777  A  B.  C  D  E  &*=. 

July  24^^  We  marched  from  Skeensborough,  and  tho 
but  15  miles  to  Fort  Anne,  were  two  days  going  it ;  as 
the  enemy  had  felled  large  trees  over  the  river,  which 
there  turned  so  narrow,  as  not  to  allow  more  than 
one  battow  abreast,  from  whence  we  were  obliged  to 
cut  a  road  through  the  wood,  which  was  attended 
with  great  fatigue  and  labour,  for  our  wagons  and 
artillery.  Our  heavy  cannon  went  over  Lake  George, 
as  it  was  impossible  to  bring  them  [over]  the  road  we 
made,  and  were  to  join  us  near  Fort  Edward,  in 
case  the  Enemy  were  to  stand  us  at  that  place,  it 
being  a  good  road  for  cannon  and  about  16  miles. — 
Fort  Anne  is  a  place  of  no  great  strength,  having 
only  a  block  house,  which  though  strong  against 
small  arms  is  not  proof  against  cannon.     We  saw 

"^On  the  same  day  General  Burgoyne  issued  a  proclama- 
tion to  the  inhabitants  of  Castleton  and  neighboring  towns, 
requesting  them  "  to  send  deputies,  consisting  of  10  per- 
sons or  more  from  each  township,  to  meet  Col.  Skeene  at 
Castleton  July  15th  at  10,  A.  M,,  who  vvill  give  further  en- 
couragement to  those  who  complied  with  the  terms  of  my 
late  manifesto  &  conditions  upon  which  persons  and  prop- 
erty of  the  disobedient  may  be  spared."  In  reply,  General 
Schuyler,  on  the  13th  issued  a  counter-proclamation,  forbid- 
ding these  towns  to  send  delegates  to  meet  Burgoyne's  com- 
missioner under  pain  of  punishment.  Vide  Collections  New 
Hampshire  Historical  Society,  vol.  2,  pp.  148-150. 

30 


W^Kvit^iKK.  -SIV^..  -: 


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234 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


many  of  their  dead  unburied,  since  the  action  of  the 
S''',  which  caused  a  violent  stench.  One  officer  of  the* 
^th  regiment,  Lieu^  Westrop'^^  was  then  unburied, 
and  from  the  smell  we  could  only  cover  him  with 
leaves.  At  that  action,  the  g^*"  took  their  colours, 
which  were  intended  as  a  present  to  their  Colonel 
Lord  Ligonier,'^'*     They  were  very  handsome,  a  flag 

^^^  Richard  Westropp  had  been  in  the  army  but  a  short 
time,  having  received  his  commission  of  ensign  in  the  Ninth 
Foot  on  March  14,  1772,  and  of  lieutenant,  January  i,  1774. 
His  regiment  took  an  active  part  in  the  campaign  of  '76,  but 
he  passed  through  it  unscathed  to  meet  his  fate  at  Fort  Anne. 
Sergeant  Lamb,  who  saw  him  fall,  says  that  he  was  by  his 
side  when  he  was  shot  through  the  heart.  Vide  British 
Army  Lists,  in  loco  ;  Journal  of  Occurrences  During  the  Late 
American  War,  p.  143. 

^^*  Edward  Ligonier  was  the  son  of  Colonel  Francis  Li- 
gonier,  who  died  after  the  battle  of  Falkirk,  having  risen 
from  a  bed  of  sickness  to  participate  in  the  battle.  He  was 
commissioned  captain  and  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  First 
Foot,  August  15,  1759,  at  which  time  his  regiment  was  in 
America,  having  participated  in  the  successful  siege  of  Louis- 
burg  the  previous  year.  The  scene  of  Burgoyne's  campaign 
was  familiar  to  him,  as  it  was  upon  Lakes  George  and  Cham- 
plain  that  the  First  Regiment  had  operated  against  the 
French,  nearly  twenty  years  before  the  date  here  given  by 
Digby.  In  1760  Ligonier  was  in  the  trying  campaign  against 
the  Chevokees,  and  when  that  was  ended,  participated  in 
the  expedition  agai;  .t  Havana  in  1762.  The  hardships  in 
this  campaign  were  very  great  we  are  told.  Ligonier  re- 
turned to  England  in  1763,  and  on  April  21st  of  that  year, 
was  appointed  aide  de-camp  to  the  king,  with  the  army  rank 
of  colonel.  Having  succeeded*  to  the  Irish  title  of  Viscount 
Ligonier  of  Clonmel,  in  1770,  after  the  death  of  his  uncle, 
the  field  marshal,  Earl  Ligonier,  he  was  made  colonel  of  the 
Ninth  Foot,  August  8th,  in  the  following  year,  shortly  after 
which  time  he  was  advanced  to  the  dignity  of  Earl  Ligonier. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


235 


of  the  United  States,  13  stripes  alternate  red  and 
white,  [with  thirteen  stars]  in  a  blue  field  represent- 
ing a  new  constellation.  In  the  evening,  our  Indians 
brought  in  two  scalps,  one  of  them  an  officer's  which 
they  danced  about  in  their  usual  manner.  Indeed, 
the  cruelties  committed  by  them,  were  too  shocking 
to  relate,  particularly  the  melancholy  catastrophe  of 
the  unfortunate  Miss  McCrea,'^^  which  affected  the 
general  and  the  whole  army  with  the  sincerest  regret 

He  became  major-general  in  the  army,  September  29,  1775, 
and  August  29,  1777,  lieutenant-general.  He  died  in  1782, 
when  his  titles  became  extinct.  Vide  British  Army  Lists, 
in  loco;  Historical  Record  of  the  First  Foot,  pp.  136-148; 
Ibid.,  Ninth  Foot,  p.  123. 

"*The  story  of  Jane  McCrea  has  been  often  related,  some- 
times in  most  exaggerated  forms ;  even  her  life  has  been 
elaborately  written.  The  generally  accepted  version  is  that 
David  Jones,  a  Tory  officer  in  Burgoyne's  army,  sent  two 
Indians,  one  of  whom  was  called  Wyandot  Panther,  to  con- 
duct her  to  the  British  camp,  where  she  was  to  be  married, 
and  that  on  the  way  thither,  the  Indians  disagreeing  with 
respect  to  a  division  of  the  "  barrel  of  rum  "  to  be  paid  them 
for  their  services,  Wyandot  Panther  killed  her  with  a  toma- 
hawk. This  version  is  supported  by  Wilson  in  his  life  of 
Miss  McCrea,  whom  he  says  was  killed  by  le  Loilp,  as  well 
as  by  Neilson,  who  relates  that  the  Indians  exhibited  their 
scalps  at  a  house  which  they  called  at,  and  said  that  they 
"had  killed  Jenny."  They  had  with  them  Mrs.  McNeil  — 
who,  it  seems,  was  a  cousin  of  General  Fraser  —  in  a  state  of 
nudity,  and  so  delivered  her  to  the  general,  greatly  to  his 
embarrassment  as  well  as  that  of  Mrs.  McNeil,  as  his  ward- 
robe was  not  provided  with  any  thing  suitable  for  a  lady  to 
wear.  Neilson,  commenting  upon  their  treatment  of  Mrs. 
McNeil,  says :  '*  The  inducement  to  strip  and  plunder  Mrs. 
McNeil  was  sufficient  to  account  for  the  butchery  of  Miss 
McCrea."     And  so  it  probably  was,  for  the  Indians  were  not 


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236 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


and  concern  for  her  untimely  fate.  This  young  lady 
was  about  18,  had  a  pleasing  person,  her  family 
were  loyal  to  the  King,  and  she  engaged  to  be 
married  to  a  provincial  officer,  in  our  Army,  before 
the  war  broke  out.    Our  Indians,  (I  may  well  now  call 

particular  whom  they  murdered,  and  killed  Tories  as  well 
as  Americans ;  indeed,  the  Tories  of  Argyle  flocked  to  Bur- 
goyne  for  protection  against  his  savage  allies.  But  we  have 
proof  that  after  all,  in  this  case  the  Indians  were  innocent 
of  murder,  and  that  Miss  McCrea  was  killed  unintentionally 
by  the  Americans.  Let  us  examine  this  evidence.  Miss 
McCrea  had  been  invited  by  David  Jones  to  visit  the  British 
camp  and  accompany  the  several  ladies  there  in  an  excursion 
on  Lake  George.  He  was  troubled  about  her  exposure  to 
danger  from  the  Indians,  and  intended  to  press  her  to  marry 
him  at  once,  that  he  might  be  better  able  to  afford  her  pro- 
tection. Mrs.  McNeil  and  she  were  just  about  to  embark 
under  the  charge  of  Lieutenant  Palmer  and  a  few  soldiers, 
when,  knowing  that  the  Americans  were  in  the  vicinity,  the 
lieutenant  and  his  men  left  them  for  a  few  minutes  to  re- 
connoitre. While  the  British  soldiers  were  absent,  some  of 
their  Indian  allies  came  up  and  seized  Mrs.  McNeil  and 
Miss  McCrea,  and  placing  the  latter  upon  a  horse,  hurried 
away,  pursued  by  a  party  of  Americans,  who  were  close  at 
hand.  The  Americans  fired  upon  the  flying  Indians,  one  of 
whom,  Wyandoi  Panther,  was  leading  the  horse  upon  which 
Miss  McCrea  sat.  Mrs.  McNeil  became  separated  from  Miss 
McCrea,  and  did  not  witness  her  death,  but  said  afterward 
that  the  Americans  fired  so  high  as  not  to  injure  the  Indians, 
who  were  on  foot.  Wyandot  Panther,  when  examined  by 
Burgoyne,  affirmed  that  Miss  McCrea  was  killed  by  the 
Americans,  who  were  pursuing  him ;  and  General  Fraser, 
at  a  post-mortem  investigation,  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that 
she  was  thus  killed  by  the  Americans  "  aiming  too  high, 
when  the  mark  was  on  elevated  ground,  as  had  occurred  at 
Bunker's  (Breed's)  hill,"  But,  in  addition  to  this,  we  now 
have  more  positive  proof  in  the  testimony  of  General  Mor- 
gan Lewis,  to  the  effect  that  she  had  three  distinct  gunshot 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


237 


them  Savages)  were  detached  on  scouting  parties, 
both  in  our  front  and  on  our  flanks,  and  came  to  the 
house  where  she  resided  ;  but  the  scene  is  too  tragic 
for  my  pen.  She  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  savage  passions 
of  these  blood  thirsty  monsters,  for  the  particulars  of 
which,  I  shall  refer  the  reader  to  General  Burgoyne's 
letter,  dated  t^^  September,  to  General  Gates,  which 
he  will  find  on  page  263,  with  his  manner  of  acting 
on  that  melancholy  occasion.  I  make  no  doubt,  but 
the  censorious  world,  who  seldom  judge  but  by  out- 
ward appearances,  will  be  apt  to  censure  Gen  Bur- 
goyne  for  the  cruelties  committed  by  his  Indians, 
and  imagine  he  countenanced  them  in  so  acting. 
On  the  contrary,  I  am  pretty  certain  it  was  always 
against  his  desire  to  give  any  assistance  to  the 
savages.     The  orders  from  Lord  George  Germaine'^^ 

wounds  upon  her  body,  and  from  the  additional  fact  that 
when  her  body  was  removed,  a  few  years  ago,  to  a  new 
burial  place,  no  mark  of  a  tomahawk  or  injury  of  any  kind 
was  found  upon  the  skull.  We  may,  the  'efore,  look  upon 
the  familiar  picture  of  the  two  savages  holding  an  unat- 
tractive-looking female,  who  does  not  appear  at  all  disturbed 
at  the  sight  of  the  tomahawk  about  to  descend  upon  her 
head,  as  fictitious.  Vide  The  Life  of  Jane  McCrea  (Wilson), 
New  York,  1853;  Burgoyne's  Campaign  and  St.  Leger's 
Expedition,  pp.  302-313;  Neilson's  Account  of  Burgoyne's 
Campaign,  pp.  68-79;  Burgoyne's  Orderly  Book,  pp.  187, 
189;  Pictorial  Field-Book  of  the  Revolution  ^Lossing),  vol. 
I,  pp.  48,  96,  99,  et  passim ;  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times, 
vol.  I,  p.  230,  et  seq.;  Travels  in  the  Interior  Parts  of 
America,  vol.  i,  pp.  369-372  ;  Journal  of  Occurrences  During 
the  Late  American  War,  pp.  155-157. 

^''^Lord  George  Germaine  was  the  minister  for  American 
affairs,  which  he  appears  to  have  managed  disgracefully.  He 


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238 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


to  General  Carlton,  on  Lieutenant  General  Bur- 
goyne's  taking  the  command  of  the  Army  were  as 
follows.  "  As  this  plan  cannot  be  advantageously 
executed  without  the  assistance  of  Canadians  and 
Indians,  his  majesty  strongly  recommends  it  to  your 
care,  to  furnish  him  with  good  and  sufficient  bodies 
of  these  men,  and  I  am  happy  in  knowing  that 
your  influence  among  them  is  so  great,  that  there 
can  be  no  room  to  apprehend  you  will  find  it  difficult 
to  fulfill  his  majesty's  intentions."  General  Bar- 
goyne,  afterwards  says  in  parliament :  "  As  to  the 
Indian  alliance,  he  had  always  at  best  considered  it 
as  a  necessary  evil.  He  determined  to  go  to  the 
soldiers  of  the  State,  not  the  executioners.  He  had 
been  obliged  to   run    a   race   with  the  congress  in 


was  stiff  and  imperious,  unscrupulous  in  the  gratification  of 
personal  resentments,  and  had  been  cashiered  for  cowardice 
some  years  before.  In  Fitzmaurice's  Life  of  William,  Earl 
of  Shelburne,  we  are  told  that  he  was  a  man  possessed  of 
"intolerable  meanness  and  love  of  corruption,"  and  further, 
that  "  he  wanted  judgment  in  all  great  affairs,  and  he  wanted 
heart  on  all  great  occasions,"  was  "violent,  sanguine  and 
overbearing  in  his  first  conception  and  setting  out  of  plans, 
but  easily  checked,  and  liable  to  sink  into  an  excess  of 
despondency  upon  the  least  reverse  without  any  sort  of 
resource."  Fox  delighted  to  compare  him  to  Dr.  Sangrado. 
"For  two  years,"  said  he,  "that  a  certain  noble  lord  has 
presided  over  American  affairs,  the  most  violent,  scalping, 
tomahawk  measures  have  been  pursued  Bleeding  has  been 
his  only  prescription.  If  a  people  deprived  of  their  ancient 
rights  are  grown  tumultuous  —  b! "ed  them!  if  they  are 
attacked  with  a  spirit  of  insurrection  —  bleed  them  !  if  their 
fever  should  rise  into  rebellion  —  bleed  them  !  cries  this  state 
physician  ;    more  blood  !   more  blood  !    still  more  blood  !  " 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


239 


securing  the  alliance  of  the  Indians.  They  courted 
and  tempted  them  with  presents,  as  well  as  the 
British.  He  had  In  more  instances  than  one  con- 
troled  the  Indians  &^" 

28'^  We  marched  from  Fort  Anne,  but  could  only 
proceed  about  6  miles,  the  road  being  broke  up  by 
the  enemy  and  large  trees  felled  across  it,  taking  up 
a  long  time  to  remove  them  for  our  6  pounders, 
which  were  the  heavyest  guns  with  us.  We  halted 
at  night  on  an  eminence,  and  were  greatly  distressed 
for  water,  no  river  being  near,  and  a  report  that  the 
enemy  had  poisoned  a  spring  at  a  small  distance ; 
but  it  was  false,  as  our  surglon  tried  an  experiment 
on  the  water  and  found  it  good. 

After  relating  how  Dr.  Sangrado  was  remonstrated  with 
for  the  death  of  so  many  patients,  he  gave  the  doctor's  reply, 
to  the  effect  that,  having  written  a  book  on  the  efficacy  of 
such  practice,  though  every  patient  should  die,  he  must  con- 
tinue for  the  credit  of  his  book.  He  was  detested  by  his 
associates  and  by  the  generals  who  commanded  in  America. 
Temple  Luttrell  abused  him  in  Parliament,  without  eliciting 
z.  reply.  He  said  on  one  occasion,  while  Germaine  was  pres- 
ent, referring  to  the  Burgoyne  campaign,  "  flight  was  the 
only  safety  that  remained  for  the  royal  army,  and  he  saw  one 
who  had  set  the  example  in  Germany  and  was  fit  to  lead  them 
on  such  an  occasion  ;  "  and  Wilkes  said :  "  The  noble  Lord 
might  conquer  America,  but  he  believed  it  would  not  be  in 
Germany."  This  was  in  allusion  to  Germaine's  disgraceful 
conduct  as  an  officer  in  Germany,  for  which  he  was  dismissed 
the  service.  Vide  The  Pictorial  History  of  England  (Knight), 
London,  1841,  vol.  i,  p.  325  ;  A  History  of 'England  (Adol- 
phus),  London,  1841,  vol.  2,  p.  496;  Life  of  William,  Earl 
of  Shelburne,  London,  vol.  i,  pp.  357-359;  Journal  of  the 
Reign  of  George  the  Third  (Walpole),  London,  1859,  PP* 
26,  34. 


-'V. 


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Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


29*^  Moved  about  6  or  7  miles  farther,  and  had 
the  same  trouble  of  clearing  the  road,  as  the  day 
before.  We  encamped  within  a  mile  of  Fort  Edward, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  river.  It  was  a  very 
good  post,  and  we  expected  it  would  have  been  dis- 
puted. There,  the  road  from  Fort  George  then  in 
our  possession  joined  us,  and  being  in  possession  of 
that  post  secured  Our  heavy  guns  &*^  coming  from 
Fort  George.  It  was  supposed  we  should  not  go 
much  farther  without  them.  Our  tents  were  pitched 
in  a  large  field  of  as  fine  wheat  as  I  ever  saw,  which 
in  a  few  minutes  was  all  trampled  down.  Such  must 
ever  be  the  wretched  situation  of  a  Country,  the  seat 
of  war.  The  potatoes  were  scarce  fit  to  dig  up,  yet 
were  torn  out  of  the  ground  without  thinking  in  the 
least  of  the  owner. 

3o^^  We  moved  on  farther  to  a  rising  ground 
about  a  mile  south  of  Fort  Edward,  and  encamped 
on  a  beautiful  situation  from  whence  you  saw  the 
most  romantic  prospect  of  the  Hudson's  river;  inter- 
sperced  with  many  small  islands,  and  the  encamp- 
ment of  the  line  about  2  miles  in  our  rear.  There 
is  a  fine  plain  about  the  Fort,  which  appeared  doubly 
pleasing  to  us,  who  were  so  long  before  buried  in 
woods.  On  the  whole,  the  country  thereabout  wore 
a  very  different  appearance  from  any  we  had  seen 
since  our  leaving  Canada,  and  from  that  Fort  to 
Albany,  about  46  miles,  the  land  improves  much, 
and  no  doubt  in  a  little  time  will  be  thickly  set- 
tled.   The  enemy  were  then  encamped  about  4  miles 


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Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


241 


from  us ;  but  it  was  not  thought  they  intended 
to  make  a  stand.  At  this  time  a  letter  appeared 
addressed  to  General  Burgoyne,  I  believe  found 
nailed  to  a  tree.  There  was  no  name  signed,  yet  it 
was  thought  —  (how  true  heaven  only  knows)  —  to 
be  wrote  by  brigadier  general  Arnold,  ^  'ho  opposed 
our  lieet  the  preceding  year  on  Lake  Champlain,  and 
was  then  second  in  command  under  General  Gates. 
He  first  tells  him,  not  to  be  too  much  elated  on  his 
rapid  progress,  as  all  he  had  as  yet  gained  was 
an  uncultivated  desert,  and  concludes  his  letter  by 
desiring  him  to  beware  of  crossing  the  Hudson's 
river,  making  use  of  that  memorable  saying,  **  Thus 
far  shalt  thou  go  and  no  farther."  We  heard  by 
some  intelligence  from  the  enemy's  camp,  that  Genl" 
St  Clair  &  Schyler'^'  were  ordered  before  a  com- 

"^  Phillip  Schuyler  was  born  at  Albany  on  November  22, 
1733.  His  grandfather  and  father  were  men  of  character 
and  wealth.  He  inherited  large  estates  under  the  law  of 
primogeniture,  but  generously  divided  them  with  his  broth- 
ers and  sisters.  His  mother  was  a  woman  of  unusual  at- 
tainments, and  gave  her  son  a  thorough  training.  His  first 
service  was  against  the  French  and  Indians  in  1755.  He 
was  with  Lord  George  Howe,  with  whom  he  was  a  great 
favorite,  in  the  attack  on  Ticonderoga,  in  which  attack 
Howe  fell,  and  to  Schuyler  was  assigned  the  duty  of  con- 
veying the  body  of  the  young  nobleman,  who  was  the  idol 
of  his  companions-in-arms,  to  Albany.  He  was  a  delegate 
to  the  Continental  Congress  in  May,  1775,  and  in  June  was 
appointed  a  major-general.  He  was  assigned  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  army  in  the  province  of  New  York,  but  owing 
to  illness,  was  obliged  to  relinquish  it  to  Montgomery.  He 
was  most  efficient  in  putting  the  northern  army  into  a  con- 
dition of  order  and   discipHne ;   but  while  engaged  in  his 

31 


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Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


mittee  of  their  congress,  to  account  for  their  reasons 
of  evacuating  Ticonderoga.     As  yet,  the  fickle  God- 
dess Fortune  had  smiled  upon  our  arms,  and  crowned 
our  wishes  with  every  kind  of  success,  which  might 
easyly  be  seen  from  the  great  spirits  the  Army  in 
general  were  in  ;   and    the  most  sanguine  hopes  of 
conquest,  victory   &^   Sc''.  were  formed  of  crowning 
the  campaign  with,  from  the  general  down  to  the 
private  soldier. ;  but  alas  !  this  life  is  a  constant  rota- 
duties,  was,  in  March,  1777,  superseded  by  Gates,  owing  to 
the  persistent  efforts  of  enemies.     He  was  restored  to  his 
command  again  two  months  later,  and  at  once  proceeded 
with  great  vigor  to  put  the  fortifications  in  his  department 
into  a  thorough  state  of  defense,  and  his  army  into  a  condi- 
tion to  meet  the  advancing  Burgoyne.     The  fall  of  Ticon- 
deroga and    his  own  retreat  from   Fort  Edward,  gave  his 
opponents  an  opportunity  to  effect  his  displacement,  and 
in  Augi'st   he  was  again  superseded  by  Gates.     His  mag- 
nanimity and  noble  patriotism  in  continuing  to  devote  his 
wealth  and  services  to  the  cause  of  his  country,  put  his  ene- 
mies to  shame.    At  a  court  of  inquiry,  called  at  his  request, 
he  was  rewarded  by  a  full  acquittal.     After  this,  although 
pressed  by  Washington,  he  refused  military  command,  but 
rendered  efficient  aid  to  the  cause.      The  Baroness  Riedesel 
gives  us  a  glimpse  of  the  noble  character  of  the  man,  in  her 
interesting  letters.      She  had   passed  through  the  terrible 
scenes  which  preceded  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  and  with 
her  children,  approached,  with  no  little  fear,  the  camp  of  the 
Americans.    What  was  her  surprise  and  delight  to  be  re- 
ceived with  the  greatest  kindness.      We  will  quote  her  own 
description  of  the  scene :  **  When  I  approached  the  tents,  a 
noble-looking  man  came  toward  me,  took  the  children  out 
of  the  wagon,  embraced  and  kissed  them,  and  then,  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  helped  me  also  to  alight.      *  You  tremble,' 
said  he  to  me  ;  *  fear  nothing.*     *  No,'  replied  I, '  for  you  are 
so  kind,  and  have  been  so  tender  toward  my  children,  that 
it  has  inspired  me  with  courage.'     He  then  led  me  to  the 


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ieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


243 


tion  of  changes ;  and  the  man,  who  forms  the  smallest 
hopes,  has  generally  the  greatest  chance  of  happiness. 
In  the  evening,  our  Indians  had  a  skirmish  with  an 
advance  party  of  the  enemy.  It  was  a  heavy  fire  for 
about  half  an  hour,  when  \e  latter  fled  with  loss. 
During  our  stay  there,  many  of  the  country  people 
came  to  us  for  protection.  Those  are  styled  by  the 
enemy  torys,  and  greatly  persecuted  if  taken  after 
fighting  against  them.'^^ 

tent  of  General  Gates,  with  whom  I  found  Generals  Bur- 
goyne  and  Phillips.  Burgoyne  said  to  me  :  '  You  may  now 
dismiss  all  your  apprehensions,  for  your  sufferings  are  at  an 
end.'  All  the  generals  remained  to  dine  with  General  Gates. 
The  man  who  had  received  me  so  kindly  came  up  and  said 
to  me :  *  It  may  be  embarrassing  to  you  to  dine  with  all 
these  gentlemen;  come  now  with  your  children  into  my 
tent,  where  I  will  give  you,  it  is  true,  but  a  frugal  meal,  but 
one  that  will  be  accompanied  by  the  best  of  wishes.*  '  You 
are  certainly,'  answered  I,  *  a  husband  and  a  father,  since 
you  show  me  so  much  kindness.'  I  then  learned  that  he  was 
the  American  General  Schuyler.  The  day  after  this  we 
arrived  at  Albany,  where  we  had  so  often  longed  to  be.  But 
we  came  not  as  we  supposed  we  should,  as  victors!  We 
were,  nevertheless,  received  in  the  most  friendly  manner  by 
the  good  General  Schuyler,  and  by  his  wife  and  daughters, 
who  showed  us  the  most  marked  courtesy,  as,  also.  General 
Burgoyne,  although  he  had  —  without  any  necessity  it  vvas 
said  —  caused  their  magnificently-built  houses  to  be  burn  d." 
A.ter  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  General  Schuyler 
represented  his  State  as  a  senator,  and  maintained  a  high 
place  in  the  esteem  of  the  American  people.  His  death 
occurred  at  Albany,  November  18,  1804. 

"•*  This  is  a  moderate  statement  of  the  fact.  Not  only  were 
they  killed  and  banished,  but  Sabine  tells  us  that  the  Whigs, 
after  the  peace,  "  Instead  of  repealing  the  proscription  and 
banishment  acts,  as  justice  and  good  policy  required,  tliey 


1 


I  < 


244 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


August  9^^  We  moved  on  to  Fort  Miller '^^  9  miles 
nearer  Albany,  and  which  the  enemy  evacuated 
some  days  before.  What  I  could  see  and  learn  is, 
that  few  of  the  forts  situated  on  the  Hudson  River 
in  that  part,  are  proof  against  cannon ;  they  being 
built  during  the  last  war  in  order  to  defend  stores 
and  amunition  from  the  inroads  of  the  Indians,  who 
frequently  came  down  in  large  numbers,  plundering 
and  scalping   our   first  settlers  residing  contiguous 

manifested  a  spirit  to  place  the  humbled  and  unhappy  loyal- 
ists beyond  the  pale  of  human  sympathy.  A  discrimination 
between  the  conscientious  and  pure,  and  the  unprincipled 
an--'  corrupt,  was  not,  perhaps,  possible  during  the  struggle  ; 
bu.,  nostiUties  at  an  end,  mere  loyalty  should  have  been  for- 
giveuT  And  we  are  further  told  that,  "  thr'  jghout  this 
contest,  and  amidst  all  those  qualities  displayed  by  the 
Americans,  many  of  those  qualities  being  entitled  to  high 
respect  and  commendation,  there  was  none  certainly  less 
amiable  than  their  merciless  rancor  against  those  among 
them  who  adhered  to  the  royal  side."  The  most  severe 
laws  were  passed  against  them,  one  of  which,  enacted  by  the 
State  of  New  York,  declared  that  "  any  person  being  an 
adherent  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain  should  be  guilty  of 
treason  and  suffer  death."  Vide  Loyalists  of  the  American 
Revolution  (Sabine),  Boston,  1864,  vol.  i,  p.  88;  History  of 
England  (Mahon),  vol.  6,  p.  127;  History  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution  (Ramsay),  vol.  i,  p.  295  ;  The  Loyalists  of 
America  and  Their  Times  (Ryerson),  Toronto,  1880,  vol.  11, 
pp.  5,  78,  et passim. 

^■'^This  was  one  of  the  forts  which  was  noted  during  the 
old  French  wars,  and  witnessed  the  achievements  of  the 
troops  of  Sir  William  Johnson  and  Baron  Dieskau.  The 
place  is  frequently  denominated  in  writings  relating  to  the 
campaign  of  Burgoyne  as  Duer's  House,  from  the  fact  that 
the  house  of  Judge  Duer  stood  near  it,  and  was  occupied  by 
Burgoyne  as  his  head-quarters. 


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Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


245 


to  that  river,  and  were  full  sufficient  to  withstand 
any  attack  made  with  small  arms.  I  then  heard  the 
very  disagreeable  news  of  our  regiment  (53^^)  being 
ordered  back  to  garrison,  Ticonderoga  and  Fort 
George.  I  was  much  concerned  at  it,  as  in  all  proba- 
bility I  should  not  see  them  again  during  the  war, 
which  must  be  attended  with  many  inconveniences  ; 
but  as  it  was  their  tour  of  duty,  there  was  no  putting 
it  over  tho  ever  so  disagreeable,  which  it  certainly 
was  to  every  officer  in  the  regiment.  We  had  many 
sick  at  this  time  of  fevers  &  agues  so  common  to 
the  climate.  Cap.  Wight,'^°  to  whose  company  I 
belonged,  was  so  ill  as  not  to  be  able  to  go  on 
with,  us,  and  many  other  officers  were  seized  with 
those  disorders,  as  the  heats  then  were  very  severe 
and  violent,  particularly  in  a  camp.  All  sorts  of 
meat  were  tainted  in  a  very  short  time,  and  the 
stench  very  prejudicial,  and  cleanlyness  about  our 
camp  was  a  great  consideration  towards  the  health  of 


'^John  Wright  entered  the  Fifty-third  Foot  upon  its 
formation,  in  1756,  as  an  ensign,  and  on  January  31,  1758, 
was  commissio  .;d  a  lieutenant.  Throughout  the  seven 
years*  war,  and  until  176^.  his  regiment  was  stationed  at  the 
important  fortress  of  Gibraltar.  It  was  then  ordered  to 
Ireland,  and  on  April  13th  of  that  year  Lieutenant  Wright 
was  promoted  to  a  captaincy.  From  this  time  until  its  em- 
barkation for  America,  the  Fifty-third  remained  in  Ireland. 
Captain  Wright  recovered  of  the  illness  mentioned  by  Digby, 
and  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Stillwater  on  October  7th. 
Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco  ;  Historical  Record  of  the 
Fifty-third  Foot,  p.  2,  et  slc.  ;  Journal  of  Occurrences  Dur- 
ing the  Late  American  War,  p.  176. 


r  i 

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1 

, 

. 

' 

^ 

■' 

i                     i' 

246 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


the  army.  I  there  received  a  letter  from  an  officer 
of  ours,  who  had  been  wounded  at  Hubberton, 
7*''  July,  in  which  he  informed  me  that  before  they 
were  removed  to  Ticonderoga,  the  wolves  came 
down  in  numbers  from  the  mountains  to  devour  the 
dead,  and  even  some  that  were  in  a  kind  of  manner 
buried,  they  tore  out  of  the  earth  ;  the  great  stench 
thro  the  country  being  the  cause  of  their  coming 
down,  and  was  enough  to  have  caused  a  plague. — 

10.  An  express  came  thro  the  woods  from  Genl 
Clinton,'^'  who  was  supposed  to  be  coming  up  the 
river  from    New  York,    but  did    not   hear   what   it 


'^''  Sir  Henry  Clinton  was  the  son  of  George  Clinton,  who 
was  the  governor  of  New  York  in  1743,  and  grandson  of 
Francis  Fiennes  Clinton,  the  sixth  earl  of  Lincoln.  His 
ancestors  were  at  an  early  date  interested  in  the  coloniza- 
tion of  America.  He  entered  the  army  in  1758  as  a  cap- 
tain of  the  Guards,  and  saw  active  service  in  the  seven 
years'  war,  rising  rapidly  by  promotion  to  the  rank  of 
major-general,  which  position  he  occupied  when  ordered  to 
America  in  1775.  In  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  subse- 
quently that  of  Long  Island,  he  took  a  distinguished  part. 
He  was  severely,  and  probably  justly  criticised  for  his  weak 
efforts  in  behalf  of  Burgoyne  ;  but  the  chief  blame  fell  upon 
Howe,  the  commander-in-chief,  and  upon  his  recall,  Clinton 
superseded  him  in  the  chief  command.  Being  forced  to 
evacuate  Philadelphia  by  the  Americans,  he  headed  an  ex- 
pedition against  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  which  he  cap- 
tured in  1779.  The  next  year  Arnold,  who  had  done  so 
much  for  the  American  cause,  becoming  disaffected,  joined 
him,  and  under  his  direction  aided  in  an  expedition  against 
his  former  friends,  but  with  little  effect.  Arnold  on  this 
expedition  was  accompanied  by  Colonels  Dundas  and  Sim- 
coe,  to  whom  Clinton  had  secretly  given  joint  commissions, 
"authorizing  them,  if  they  suspected  Arnold  of  sinister  in- 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


247 


contained.  Our  heavy  guns  were  then  shortly  ex- 
pected from  Fort  George,  as  moving  them  was  very 
tedious  ;  a  24  pounder  taking  many  horses  to  draw 
it.  We  had  a  carrying  place  to  bring  over  our 
battows,  which  was  attended  with  great  fatigue  and 
trouble,  and  were  also  obliged  to  make  rafts  or  scows 
to  convey  heavy  stores  Ba^  down  the  river  Hudson. 


tent,  to  supersede  him  and  put  him  in  arrest,"  Great  induce- 
ments were  offered  to  recruits  for  the  king's  forces  in  New 
York,  as  by  the  following  copy  of  an  advertisement  will 
appear : 

"ALL  ASPIRING  HEROES. 

Have  now  an  opportunity  of   distinguishing   themselves   by  joining 

THE  QUEEN'S  RANGER  HUZZAS 

Commanded  by 
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL  SIMCOE, 
Any  spirited  young  man  will  receive  every  encouragement,  be  immedi- 
ately mounted  on  an  elegant  horse,  and  furnished  with  clothing,  accoutre- 
ments &c.  to  the  amount  of  FORTY  GUINEAS,  by  applying  to  CORNET 
SPENCER,  at  his  quarters,  No.  1033  Water  Street,  or  his  rendezvous, 
HEWITTS  TAVERN  near  the  COFFEE  HOUSE,  and  the  defeat  at 
BRANDYWINE,  on  GOLDEN  HILL. 

1^"  Whoever  brings  a  Recruit  shall  instantly  receive  TIVO  GUINEAS. 
Vivant  Rex  et  Regina  —  " 

Clinton's  efforts,  however,  were  not  successful,  and  he  was 
superseded  by  Sir  Guy  Carleton  after  the  surrender  of  Corn- 
wallis,  whom  he  had  failed  to  relieve.  On  his  return  to 
England  he  wrote  "  A  Narra'ive  "  of  his  conduct  in  America 
in  reply  to  the  observations  upon  it  by  Lord  Cornwallis,  and 
later,  "  Observations  on  Stedman's  History  of  the  American 
V/ar."  He  was  appointed  governor  of  Gibraltar  in  1795, 
but,  shortly  after  his  arrival  there,  died  on  the  22d  of  Decem- 
ber. Vide  British  Army  Lists ;  Biographical  Dictionary 
(Blake),  New  York,  in  loco ;  History  of  New  York  (Dunlap), 
vol.  II,  p.  201;  Journal  of  Occurrences  During  the  Late 
American  War,  pp.  293-333,  et  passim;  History  of  the  War 
of  the  Independence  (Botta),  Philadelphia,  1820,  vol.  i,  pp. 
306,  315  ;  vol.  2,  pp.  24-26,  307,  370,  et  passim  ;  History  of 
the  Siege  of  Boston  (Frothingham),  p.  148. 


il-.l 

I; 
I 


•WXi 


It 


248 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


About  this  time,  Cornet  Grant'^^  of  Genl  Burgoyne's 
regm't  of  Light  Dragoons,  the  I6'^  made  an  unsuc- 
cessful attempt  to  go  express  to  Gen  Clinton,  and 
was  obliged  to  return  thro  the  woods,  running  many 
risques  of  falling  into  their  hands,  to  the  very  great 
dissatisfaction  of  Gen  Burgoyne. 

II*^  A  large  detachment  of  German  troops  con- 
sisting of  Gen  Reidzels  dragoons  who  came  dis- 
mounted from  Germany,  a  body  of  Rangers,  Indians 
&  voluntiers,  with  4  pieces  of  cannon,  went  from 
our  camp  on  a  secret  expedition ;  their  route  was 
not  publicly  known,  but  supposed  for  to  take  a 
large  store  of  provisions  belonging  to  the  enemy  at 
Bennington,  and  also  horses  to  mount  the  dragoons. 
During  the  night  there  was  a  most  violent  storm  of 
Thunder,  Lightening,  wind  &  rain.  It  succeeded  a 
very  hot  day,  and  was  so  severe  that  the  men  could 
not  remain  in  their  tents,  as  the  rain  poured  quite 
through  them.  Ours  stood  it  better ;  our  horses 
tore  down  the  small  sheds  formed  to  keep  the  heat 
of  the  sun  from  them,  being  so  much  frightened. 
About  day  break  it  cleared  up,  and  a  great  heat 
followed,  which  soon  dried  all  our  cloths  &'^. 


^^^  James  Grant  was  commissioned  a  cornet  in  the  Six- 
teenth Light  Dragoons  on  December  27,  1775,  and  was  taken 
prisoner,  as  will  be  seen  farther  on  in  this  journal.  He  ap 
pears  upon  the  list  of  '79,  and  a  man  of  the  same  name  was 
commissioned  an  ensign  in  the  Twenty-seventh  Foot  on  July 
7th  of  that  year,  and  is  continued  on  the  army  list  to  1784 ; 
but,  owing  to  uncertainty  as  to  his  identity  with  the  object 
of  our  search,  it  is  unprofitable  to  follow  his  career. 


I 


lA  I 


lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


249 


,th 


13'".  We  moved  3  miles  and  encamped  at  a  post 
called  Batten  Kill,  a  strong  situation  bordering  on 
the  river  Hudson,  intended  for  the  army  to  cross 
over.  Our  corps  crossed  the  river  with  a  good  deal 
of  trouble,  and  encamped  about  2  miles  west  of  it. 
The  troops  crossed  in  battows,  which  was  very 
tedious,  as  we  had  but  few.  About  a  mile  below, 
the  horses  and  baggage  forded  it  with  some  difficulty, 
the  water  being  high  from  a  great  fall  of  rain,  which 
came  on  during  the  preceding  night,  in  consequence 
of  which,  the  troops  were  put  into  barracs  built  there 
for  1000  men  by  Gen  Schyler.  His  house  was  a 
small  way  in  our  front,  and  the  best  we  had  as  yet 
seen  in  that  part,  and  much  superior  to  many  gentle- 
man's houses  in  Canada.  It  was  intended  we  should 
move  the  next  day  to  an  eminence  a  little  distance, 
which  was  reckoned  a  good  post,  and  where  there 
was  plenty  of  forage  for  the  army. 

i6*^  Our  orders  for  marching  were  counter- 
manded and  others  given  out  for  us,  to  move  at 
3  o'clock  next  morning.  As  I  was  upon  no  par- 
ticular duty,  I  rode  back  to  the  line,  who,  with  Gen 
Burgoyne  were  at  Fort  Miller,  and  in  the  evening 
returned  to  our  camp,  crossing  over  our  new 
bridge  of  boats,  which  was  almost  then  finished. 
At  night  I  mounted  an  advanced  picquet,  and  had 
orders  to  return  to  camp  next  morning  at  Revally 
Beating,  day  break.  Nothing  extraordinary  passed 
during  the  night,  every  thing  quiet  about  our  post, 
and  on  going  to  return  in  the  morning  received 
32 


m 


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1 

,f 

1 

•I, 


j'l 


250 


Lieutenant  Digbys  JoiirnaL 


orders, —  the  i  f^  —  to  remain,  as  the  corps  was  not 
to  move  that  day,  and  to  keep  a  very  sharp  look  out ; 
on  which  we  naturally  supposed  something  extraordi- 
nary had  happened.  Soon  after  an  engineer  came 
out  to  us  with  a  number  of  men  to  throw  up  a  breast 
work.  Still  it  looked  suspicious  ;  but  we  were  soon 
made  acquainted  with  the  melancholy  report,  that 
the  detachment,  which  marched  from  us  on  the  ii''' 
were  all  cut  to  pieces  by  the  enemy  at  Bennington, 
their  force  being  much  superior.  Our  4  pieces  of 
cannon  were  taken,  two  6  pounders  &  two  3  pounders. 
I  fear  the  officer  who  commanded,  a  German,  took 
post  in  a  bad  situation,  and  was  surrounded  by  the 
enemy  after  expending  all  his  amunition.  Our 
Albany  voluntiers  behaved  with  great  bravery ;  but 
were  not  seconded  by  the  Germans  and  Savages ; 
and  it  was  much  regretted  British  were  not 
sent  in  their   place. '^^      The    express  also  informed 


^^This  remark  of  Digby  plainly  reveals  the  jealousy  which 
existed  on  the  part  of  the  English  toward  their  German 
allies  —  a  jealousy  which  was  inexcusable  when  the  rela- 
tions of  both  to  the  war  are  regarded.  That  the  German 
auxiliaries  performed  their  duty  faithfully,  patiently  and 
bravely  cannot  be  questioned ;  indeed,  when  we  reflect 
upon  all  the  facts  of  the  case,  we  can  but  admire  the  char- 
acter which  they  displayed.  It  was  a  piece  of  great  folly 
on  the  part  of  the  English  general  in  assigning  men  equipped 
as  they  were,  and  ignorant  of  the  language,  to  such  a  ser- 
vice. Their  equipment  was  ridiculously  cumbersome,  and 
rendered  them  incapable  of  making  any  quick  movement. 
But  an  important  fact,  related  in  General  Riedesel's  Me- 
moirs, should  be  stated,  which  shows  how  they  were  deceived 
by  supposed  loyalists,  whom  Baum  allowed  to  gather  on  his 


Lieut e7iant  Digbys  Journal. 


251 


[us]  that  the  enemy  was  greatly  elated  in  conse- 
quence of  the  above,  and  were  upon  the  move  ;  but 
where  he  could  not  tell.  Our  situation  was  not  the 
best,  as  from  the  great  fall  of  rain  our  bridge  was 
near  giving  way  by  the  flood,  which  almost  totally 
cut  off  our  communication  with  Genl  Burgoyne  and 
the  line.  Our  post  was  also  far  from  a  good  one, 
being  surrounded  and  commanded  by  hills  around  — 
Gen  Frazier  not  intending  to  remain  there  above  a 
night  or  two.     About  4  in  the  evening  our  picquet 


flanks:  "Toward  nine  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the  i6th, 
small  bodies  of  armed  men  made  their  appearance  from  dif- 
ferent directions.  These  men  were  mostly  in  their  shirt- 
sleeves. They  did  not  act  as  if  they  intended  to  make'  an 
attack ;  and  Baum,  being  told  by  the  provincial,  who  had 
joined  his  army  on  the  line  of  march,  that  they  were  all 
loyalists  and  would  make  common  cause  with  him,  suffered 
them  to  encamp  on  his  side  and  rear.  Shortly  after  another 
force  of  the  rebels  arrived  and  attacked  his  rear.  This  was 
the  signal  for  the  seeming  loyalists,  who  had  encamped  on 
the  side  and  rear  of  the  army,  to  attack  the  Germans  ;  and 
the  result  was  that  Baum  suddenly  found  himself  cut  off 
from  all  his  detached  posts.  For  over  two  hours  he  with- 
stood the  sallies  and  fire  of  the  enemy  —  his  dragoons,  to  a 
man,  fighting  like  heroes —  but  at  last,  his  ammunition  being 
used  up,  and  no  reinforcements  arriving,  he  was  obliged  to 
succumb  to  superior  numbers  and  retreat.  The  enemy 
seemed  to  spring  out  of  the  ground  ;  indeed,  they  were 
estimated  at  between  four  and  five  thousand  men.  Twice 
the  brave  dragoons  succeeded  in  breaking  a  road  through 
the  enemy's  ranks;  for,  upon  their  ammunition  giving  out, 
Baum  ordered  that  they  should  hang  their  carbines  over 
their  shoulders  and  trust  to  their  swords.  But  bravery  was 
now  in  vain ;  and  the  heroic  leader,  himself  severely  wounded, 
was  forced  to  surrender  with  his  dragoons.  Meanwhile  the 
Indians  and  Provincials  had  taken  flight,  and  sought  safety 


1 


252 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


was  relieved  by  Lord  Balcarres  and  the  Battallion  of 
light  Infantry,  who  were  to  lie  on  their  arms  there 
during  the  night.  Our  orders  were,  to  be  in  readiness 
to  recross  the  river  next  morning  at  day  break,  and 
during  the  night,  to  remain  accoutred  and  ready  to 
turn  out  at  a  moments  warning.  The  rain  still  con- 
tinued. 

1 8.  Our  bridge  was  carried  down  by  the  water, 
and  to  complete  all,  the  ford  where  our  horses 
crossed   over   the  is'**  was  impassable  —  The  river 


in  the  forest."  Thus  nobly  did  these  poor  Germans  fight  in  a 
cause  in  which  they  had  no  interest,  impelled  by  loyalty 
to  their  prince  and  ztal  to  uphold  the  honor  of  German 
soldiers.  They  were  in  a  strange  land,  and  fighting  with 
and  for  men  whose  language  they  did  not  understand,  and 
who  affected  superiority  over  them.  Their  position  was, 
indeed,  a  trying  one  ;  and  that  they  realized  it,  may  be  seen 
in  the  following  extract  from  Anburey's  letters :  "  The 
Germans,  to  the  number  of  twenty  or  thirty  at  a  time,  will 
in  their  conversations  relate  to  each  other  that  they  are  sure 
they  shall  not  live  to  see  home  again,  and  are  certain  that 
they  shall  very  soon  die;  would  you  believe  it,  after  this 
they  mope  and  pine  about,  haunted  with  the  idea  that, 

'  Nor  wives,  nor  children,  shall  they  more  behold, 
Nor  friends,  nor  sacred  home.' 

Nor  can  any  medicine  or  advice  you  can  give  them  divert 
this  settled  superstition,  which  they  as  surely  die  martyrs  to 
as  ever  it  infects  them.  Thus  it  is  that  men,  who  have  faced 
the  dangers  of  battle  and  of  shipwreck  without  fear  (for  they 
are  certainly  as  brave  as  any  soldiers  in  the  world)  are  taken 
off,  a  score  at  a  time,  by  a  mere  phantom  of  their  own  brain. 
This  is  a  circumstance  well  known  to  every  one  in  the  army." 
Vide  Memoirs  of  Major-General  Riedesel,  vol.  I,  p.  130,  et 
seq.;  Travels  Through  the  Interior  Parts  of  America,  vol.  I, 
p.  161,  et  seq. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


253 


being  swelled  so  much.  We  had  a  few  battows  and 
a  large  scow  for  our  cannon  ;  so  began  to  cross  ; 
but  it  was  a  most  tedioi's  piece  of  work,  and  late 
at  night  before  every  .nig  was  over  —  when  we  lay 
on  our  arms — not  as  yet  being  exact  as  to  the 
motions  of  the  enemy. 

19.  We  encamped  on  our  former  strong  post 
Batten  Kill.  On  this  occasion,  the  Indians  in  Con- 
gress   with    M'^  Luc  '^*   at  their    head,  with    an  old 

^^  Luc  de  Chapt  de  la  Corne  Saint-Luc  was  the  son  of  Jean- 
Louis  de  la  Corne,  who  achieved  a  considerable  military  repu- 
tation in  Canada.  St.  Luc  for  many  years  had  served  with 
the  Indians  against  the  English,  and  had  been  regarded  by 
them  as  a  dangerous  and  cruel  enemy.  When  Canada  was 
lost  to  France,  St.  Luc  determined  to  return  to  the  land  of 
his  fathers,  and  embarked,  October  17,  1761,  on  the  Auguste 
with  his  entire  family  and  over  a  hundred  of  the  principal 
persons  of  the  colony.  On  the  coast  of  Cape  Breton  the 
Auguste  was  wrecked,  and  St.  Luc  alone  of  all  the  passen- 
gers escaped  alive.  After  great  hardships  he  reached  Que- 
bec, and  finally  seeing  the  uselessness  of  opposing  the  Eng- 
lish rule,  became,  a  British  subject ;  but  how  faithful  to  the 
crown  he  was  may  be  seen  from  the  fact,  that  when  Mont- 
gomery's invasion  of  Canada  appeared  to  promise  success, 
St.  Luc  determined  to  desert  with  his  Indians  to  the  Ameri- 
cans, and  secretly  wrote  to  the  American  general  offering 
his  support,  which  was  accepted  ;  but  when  this  acceptance 
reached  St.  Luc,  the  American  cause  did  not  promise  so 
well  as  it  promised  a  short  time  before,  and  he  concluded  to 
adhere  to  the  English  side.  For  this  treachery  he  was  dis- 
trusted by  Carleton,  and  Montgomery,  when  he  captured 
Montreal,  refused  to  include  him  in  the  capitulation.  Being 
captured  by  Montgomery,  St.  Luc  was  held  a  prisoner  until 
the  spring  of  1777,  when  he  was  released,  and  soon  after 
joined  Burgoyne  with  his  savages.  He  seems  to  have  been 
as  treacherous  and  cruel  as  his  brutal  followers,  and  as  soon 
as  the  British  were  in  a  critical  condition,  he  deserted  them. 


i 


254 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Jotirnal. 


Frenchman/^^  who  had  long  resided  amongst  them, 
declared  their  intention  of  returning  to  their  respect- 
ive homes,  their  interpreter  informing  the  [general] 
(speaking  figuratively  in  the  Indian  manner)  that  on 

Samuel  Mott  speaks  of  him  as  "an  arch  devil  incarnate,  who 
has  butchered  hundreds,  men,  women  and  children  of  your 
colonies,"  and  Burgoyne  in  Parliament  thus  alluded  to  him 
as  one  secretly  practicing  against  him:  "His  name  is  St. 
Luc  le  Corne,  a  distinguished  partisan  of  the  French  in  the 
last  war,  and  now  in  the  British  service  as  a  leader  of  the 
Indians.  He  owes  us,  indeed,  some  service,  having  been 
formerly  instrumental  in  scalping  many  hundred  British 
soldiers  upon  the  very  ground  where,  though  with  a  differ- 
ent sort  of  latitude,  he  was  this  year  employed.  He  is  by 
nature,  education  and  practice  artful,  ambitious  and  a  cour- 
tier. To  the  grudge  he  owed  me  for  controlling  him  in  the 
use  of  the  hatchet  and  scalping-knife,  it  was  natural  to  his 
character  to  recommend  himself  to  ministerial  favour  by 
any  censure  in  his  power  to  cast  upon  an  unfashionable  gen- 
eral." St.  Luc  subsequently  became  a  member  of  the  Leg- 
islative Council  of  Canada,  and  took  part  in  the  exciting 
political  questions  of  the  times  which  succeeded  the  ter- 
mination of  the  war,  but  did  not  long  survive.  He  died  in 
the  beginning  of  October,  1784,  aged  72  years.  Vide  Docu- 
ments Relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  York,  vol. 
10,  pp.  112,  132,  345,  500,  629,  750,  et  passim;  Journal  du 
Voyage  de  M.  Saint-Luc  de  la  Corne,  Quebec,  1863;  His- 
tory of  Canada  (Garneau),  vol.  i,  pp.  460,  555  ;  vol.  2,  pp.  6y, 
85,  163,  185  ;  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  vol.  4,  pp.  973, 
1095  ;  Speech  of  General  Burgoyne  on  a  Motion  of  Inquiry 
made  by  Mr.  Vyner  in  the  Parliament,  May  26,  1778,  and, 
for  a  very  full  account,  Hadden's  Journal  and  Orderly  Books, 
Appendix  No.  17. 

"*^This  was  Charles  de  Langlade,  a  Frenchman,  who  had 
long  acted  with  the  Indians,  and  was  familiar  with  their 
habits  and  customs.  Anburey  calls  him  Langdale,  who,  he 
says,  "  planned  and  executed,  with  the  nations  he  is  now 
escorting,  the  defeat  of  General  Braddock."     He  had  under 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


255 


their  first  joining  his  army,  the  sun  arose  bright,  and 
in  its  full  glory  ;  that  the  sky  was  clear  and  serene, 
foreboding  conquest  and  victory ;  but  that  then,  that 
great  Luminary  was  surrounded  and. almost  obscured 
from  the  sight  by  dark  and  gloomy  clouds,  which 
threatened  by  their  bursting  to  involve  all  nature 
in  a  general  wreck  and  confusion.  This  the  general 
(tho  in  his  heart  he  despised  them  for  their  fears 
and  might  have  sentenced  M"^  Luc  by  a  general 
Court  Martial  to  an  ignominious  death  for  desertion) 
yet  parted  with  them  seemingly  without  showing  his 
dislike,  fearing,  perhaps,  their  going  over  to  the 
enemy.  On  which  some  companies  of  rangers  were 
ordered  to  be  raised  in  their  place.  At  this  time, 
many  of  the  inhabitants,  who  before  came  into  our 
camp  for  protection,  calling  themselves  Torys,  went 
from  us  over  to  the  enemy,  who  we  hoped  soon  to 
make  pay  dear  for  their  late  success  at  Bennington.' 


86 


his  command  warriors  from  many  tribes  —  Sioux,  Sacs, 
Foxes,  Menominees,  Winnebagoes,  Ottawas  and  Chippcwas. 
At  the  assembling  of  the  tribes,  he  translated  the  speeches 
of  the  Sioux  chiefs  into  the  dialect  of  the  Chippewas,  and 
from  the  Chippewa  dialect  into  the  French  tongue.  For  a 
memoir,  vide  Collections  Wisconsin  Historical  Society,  vol. 
7,  p.  123;  Travels  Through  the  Interior  Parts  of  America, 
vol,  I,  p.  356,  et  seq. 

^^^This  was  a  constant  danger  to  the  Americans.  While 
a  large  portion  of  the  people  was  ready  to  make  any  sacri- 
fice, however  great,  for  the  cause  of  liberty,  another  con- 
siderable portion  was  as  ready  to  join  the  winning  side, 
whichever  it  might  be.  This  was  realized  by  the  American 
commanders,  and  was  the  cause  of  much  embarrassment  to 
them. 


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256 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


I 
I 


It  is  scarce  to  be  conceived  the  many  difficulties  we 
had  to  encounter  in  carrying  on  a  war  in  such  a 
country,  from  the  tediousness  of  removing  provisions 
stores  &^  and  the  smallness  of  our  numbers  were 
much  diminished  by  sending  parties  back  and  forward 
from  fort  George  to  our  camp. 

22°*^.  A  few  Germans  deserted,  one  of  whom  was 
taken  and  suffered  death. '^^  Various  were  the  reports 
then  circulating  thro  our  camp,  not  of  the  most 
pleasing  kind,  which  might  easily  be  perceived  on 
the  faces  of  some  of  our  great  men,  who  I  believe 
began  to  think  our  affairs  had  not  taken  so  fortunate 
a  turn  as  might  have  been  expected ;  as  to  my 
opinion,  it  was  of  very  little  consequence  compared 
to  so  many  abler  judges ;  certain  it  was,  as  an  Indian 
express  arrived  — 

28^^  —  to  our  camp,  that  Col.  St  Leger  '^^  was 
obliged  to  retire  with  his  small  army  to  Oswego,  in 

^*^  On  the  2 1st  of  August  an  order  of  Burgoyne  relating 
to  desertion  contained  the  following:  "In  regard  to  Desert- 
ers themselves,  all  out  posts,  Scouts  and  working  Parties  of 
Provincials  and  Indians,  are  hereby  promised  a  reward  of 
twenty  Dollars  for  every  Deserter  they  bring  in  ;  and  in  case 
any  Deserter  should  be  killed  in  the  pursuit,  their  scalps  are 
to  be  brought  off."  The  unfortunate  man  here  mentioned 
was  George  Hundertmark,  "  guilty  of  quitting  his  Post  when 
Centinel  without  being  regularly  relieved,  and  of  Desertion," 
and  was  sentenced  to  be  shot  to  death.  Vide  Burgoyne's 
Orderly  Book,  pp.  79,  81,  et  seq. 

'*^  Barry  St.  Leger  was  born  in  1737,  and  entered  the 
Twenty-eighth  Foot,  April  27,  1756,  with  the  commission  of 
an  ensign.  The  following  year  he  went  to  America  and 
served  under  Abercrombie ;  was  made  captain  in  the  Forty- 


Lieutenant  Di^ys  Journal. 


257 


his  return  towards  Canada ;  but  I  forgot,  I  should 
first  have  mentioned  the  nature  and  cause  of  his 
expedition.  Lieut  Col  St  Leger,  34***  regmt,  left 
Canada  about  the  time  we  did,  with  a  command  of 
near  700  regulars ;  viz  100  men  from  the  8*^  regmt ; 
100  from  the  34^*^  regmt;  Sir  John  Johnston's  regmt  of 
New  York,'^  133;  and  the  Hannau  Chasseurs,  342, 
with  a  body  of  Canadians  and  Indians  and  some 
small  pieces  of  Cannon.  He  was  to  go  by  Lake 
Ontario,  and  to  come  down  the  Mohock  river  on 
the  Back  settlements  to  take  fort  Stanwix'^**  &^  and 


eighth  Foot,  and  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Louisbourg  in 
1758.  After  its  capture  he  accompanied  General  Wolfe  to 
Quebec,  and  won  distinction  there.  In  July,  1760,  he  was 
appointed  brigade  major,  and  August  16,  1762,  a  major  of 
the  Ninety-fifth  Foot.  At  the  close  of  the  French  war,  he 
retired  on  half  pay,  but  on  May  25, 1772,  procured  an  appoint- 
ment in  the  army  of  lieutenant-colonel,  and  May  20,  1775, 
received  a  commission  as  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  Thirty- 
fourth  Foot.  His  unfortunate  expedition  to  the  Mohawk 
did  not  altogether  prevent  his  advancement,  as  he  was  made 
a  colonel  in  the  army,  November  17,  1780,  and  a  brigadier- 
general,  October  21,  1782.  He  died  in  1789.  Vide  British 
Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  American  Historical  Record,  vol.  3, 
p.  435  ;  Colonial  History  of  New  York,  vol.  8,  p.  714 ;  John- 
son's Orderly  Book,  p.  66,  and,  for  an  account  of  his  opera- 
tions in  1777,  The  Expedition  of  Lieut.-Col.  Barry  St.  Leger, 
by  William  L.  Stone,  Albany,  1877. 

^''This  regiment  was  known  by  several  names,  and  very 
unpleasantly  by  the  Americans  on  account  of  its  inhuman- 
ity. It  was  called  Johnson's  Royal  Greens  on  account  of 
the  color  of  its  uniform  ;  also  as  the  Queen's  Loyal  Ameri- 
cans and  the  Royal  Regiment  of  New  York. 

*^This  fort  was  erected  in  1758  and  called  Fort  Stanwix, 
taking  its  name  from  General  Stanwix,  an  officer  under 

33 


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258 


Lieutefiant  Digbys  Journal. 


1;  ' 


I 

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Vi: 


to  join  us  at  Albany.  This  was  the  plan  settled  by 
Lord  George  Germain,  as  you  will  see  in  his  letter 
to  Gen  Carlton,  dated  Whitehall  March  6*''  1777; 
but  why  that  expedition  miscarryed  I  cannot  pretend 
to  say ;  as  the  conduct  of  Col.  St  Leger  [by]  com- 
mon report,  which  was  all  I  could  depend  upon,  did 
him  every  kind  of  [in]  justice  in  the  plan  concerted 
by  him  for  carrying  his  orders  into  execution.  Our 
accounts  also  from  Genl  Howe,  or  rather  our  hearing 
nothing  about  his  proceedings  to  the  Southward,  was 
another  cause  of  disappointment,  as  it  was  but 
natural  to  suppose,  that  had  he  done  nothing  very 
great  with  so  large  a  body  of  troops  under  his  com- 
mand—  said  to  be  near  40,000  —  we  could  not 
easyly  penetrate  into  the  enemy's  country  with  one 
eighth  of  that  number ;  so  that  upon  mature  delib- 
eration, and  agreeable  to  the  general's  express  orders, 
it  was  determined  by  him  to  drop  all  sorts  of  com- 
munication with  Canada  —  the  Army  being  too  small 
to  afford  parties  at  the  different  posts  between  us, 
and  Ticonderoga  —  and  by  forcing  his  way  by  the 
greatest  exertion  possible,  fight  for  the  wished  for 
junction  with  the  Southern  army;  and  also  to  remain 
on  our  present  ground  till  provisions  stores  &°  were 

General  Abercrombie.  After  the  repulse  of  Abercrombie 
by  the  French  at  Ticonderoga,  in  which  Lord  George  Howe, 
the  elder  brother  of  General  William  Howe  of  Revolution- 
ary fame,  was  killed,  Abercrombie  dispatched  Stanwix  to 
build  this  fort  near  the  head  waters  of  the  Mohav/k,  the 
site  of  the  present  town  of  Rome.  It  was  repaired  and 
strengthened  by  General  Schuyler  in  1776  and  received  his 
name. 


iMiii 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


259 


all  up  previous  to  so  material  a  movement.  In  my 
opinion,  this  attempt  showed  a  glorious  spirit  in  our 
General,  and  worthy  alone  to  be  undertaken  by 
British  Troops,  as  the  eyes  of  all  Europe,  as  well 
as  Great  Britain  were  fixed  upon  us ;  tho  some 
disatisfied  persons  with  us  did  not  scruple  to  give  it 
the  appellation  of  ras/mess,  and  were  of  opinion, 
that  we  should  have  remained  at  Fort  Edward 
entrenched,  until  we  heard  Genl  Clinton  was  come 
up  near  Albany ;  and  then  pushed  on  to  co  operate 
with  him.  Our  great  design  &  wish  then  was  to 
draw  on  a  general  engagement,  which  we  hoped 
would  be  decisive,  as  by  their  unbounded  extent  of 
country  they  might,  by  avoiding  it,  protract  the  war. 

September  2""*.  Went  out  with  a  large  forraging 
party,  as  was  the  custom  every  morning,  and 
marched  9  miles  towards  the  enemy  before  we 
could  procure  any  ;  it  then  turning  very  scarce  from 
our  remaining  so  long  on  that  post.  We  halted  at 
an  exceeding  good  house  near  the  road,  which  was 
deserted  by  its  master  and  family  on  our  approach. 
The  furniture  was  good,  and  which  I  might  have 
appropriated  to  what  use  I  pleased.  About  3 
o'clock  we  returned  to  our  camp  with  some  hay,  not 
without  some  odd  thoughts  on  the  fortune  of  war, 
which  levels  all  distinctions  of  property,  and  which 
our  present  situation  pictured  strongly. 

4^^  A  drum[mer],  who  went  from  our  camp  as  a 
flag  of  truce  to  Genl  Gates,  returned,  and  the 
following   letters   which   passed    from    Gen    Gates 


f 


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I  "•■ 


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I 

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m 


260 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


to  Genl  Burgoyne,  with  his  answers  and  Gates* 
account  of  the  Bennington  affair  to  their  congress, 
I  shall  here  insert  for  the  amusement  of  the  reader  — 

To  the  honourable,  the  continental  congress. 

Your  excellencies  will  perceive  by  the  inclosed 
letters,  that  the  glorious  victory  at  Bennington  has 
reduced  the  boasting  stile  of  Gen  Burgoyne  so 
much,  that  he  begins  in  some  degree  to  think  and 
talk  like  other  men. 

Head  quarters  of  the  King's  Army  ) 
UPON  Hudson  river  Aicgust  30  1777.      ) 

Sir. —  Major  Genl  Reidzel  has  requested  me  to 
transmit  the  inclosed  to  Lieut  Col^  Baum,'^'  whom 
the  fortune  of  war  put  into  the  hands  of  your  troops 
at  Bennington.  Having  never  failed  in  my  attention 
towards  prisoners,  I  cannot  entertain  a  doubt  of  your 

^®^  Frederick  Baum  was  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Bruns- 
wick Dragoons,  and  is  spoken  of  as  being  a  good  officer  but 
unfit  for  this  expedition,  in  which  he  lost  his  life  ;  in  fact,  the 
troops  which  he  commanded  were  wholly  unfit  for  the  ser- 
vice here  assigned  them;.  Stone  thus  describes  the  equip- 
ment of  one  of  these  men:  "  He  wore  high  and  heavy  jack 
boots,  with  large,  long  spurs,  stout  and  stiff,  leather  breeches, 
gauntlets,  reaching  high  up  upon  his  arms,  and  a  hat  with  a 
huge  tuft  of  ornamental  feathers.  On  his  side  he  trailed  a 
tremendous  broad  sword ;  a  short  but  clumsy  carbine  was 
slung  over  his  shoulder,  and  down  his  back,  like  a  Chinese 
Mandarin,  dangled  a  long  queue."  It  is  admitted  that  Baum 
and  his  men  fought  heroically,  but  in  vain,  being  over- 
whelmed by  numbers.  He  lived  two  days  after  being 
wounded,  and  was  buried  with  military  honors  August  nine- 
teenth. 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal, 


261 


taking  this  opportunity  to  show  me  a  return  of  civil- 
ity; and  that  you  will  permit  the  baggage  and  ser- 
vants of  such  officers,  your  prisoners,  as  desire  it,  to 
pass  to  them  unmolested.  It  is  with  great  concern, 
I  find  myself  obliged  to  add  to  this  application  a 
complaint  of  the  bad  treatment  the  provincial  soldiers 
in  the  king's  service  received  after  the  affair  at 
Bennington.  I  have  reports  upon  oath  that  some 
were  refused  quarter  after  having  asked  it.  I  am 
willing  to  believe  this  was  against  the  order  and 
inclination  of  your  officers ;  but  it  is  my  part  to 
require  an  explanation,  and  to  warn  you  of  the  hor- 
rors of  retaliation,  if  such  a  practice  is  not  in  the 
strongest  terms  discountenanced.  Duty  and  prin- 
ciple. Sir ;  make  me  a  public  enemy  to  the  Ameri- 
cans, who  have  taken  arms,  but  I  seek  to  be  a 
generous  one,  nor  have  I  the  shadow  of  resentment 
against  any  individual,  who  does  not  induce  it  by 
acts  derogatory  to  those  maxims  upon  which  all  men 
of  honor  think  alike.  Persuaded  that  a  Gentleman 
of  the  station  to  which  this  lettter  is  addressed  will 
not  be  comprised  in  the  exception  I  have  made — I 
am  personally,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

JNo  BURGOYNE. 


Head  quarters  of  the  army  of  the  ) 
United  States  Sep.  2°''.      f 

Sir.    Last  night   I  had  the  honour  of  receiving 
your    excellency's    letter    of    the    30***    August.     I 


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Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 

am  astonished  you  should  mention  inhumanity,  or 
threaten  retaliation.  Nothing  happened  in  the  action 
of  Bennington,  but  what  is  common  when  works  are 
carried  by  Assault.  That  the  savages  of  America 
should  in  their  warfare  mangle  and  scalp  the  unhappy 
prisoners,  who  fall  into  their  hands,  is  neither  new 
nor  extraordinary ;  but  that  the  famous  Lieut  General 
Burgoyne,  in  whom  the  fine  gentleman  is  united  with 
the  soldier  and  the  scholar,  should  hire  the  savages 
of  America  to  scalp  Europeans  and  the  descendants 
of  Europeans ;  nay  more,  that  he  should  pay  a  price 
for  each  scalp  so  barbarously  taken,  is  more  than 
will  be  believed  in  England  until  authenticated  facts 
shall  in  every  gazette  convince  mankind  of  the  truth 
of  this  horrid  tale. —  Miss  M'^Crea,  a  young  lady 
lovely  to  the  sight,  of  virtuous  character  and  amiable 
disposition,  engaged  to  be  married  to  an  officer  in 
your  army,  was  with  other  women  and  children  taken 
out  of  a  house  near  Fort  Edward,  carried  into  the 
woods,  and  there  scalped  and  mangled  in  the  most 
shocking  manner.  Two  parents  with  their  six  chil- 
dren, [were]  all  treated  with  the  same  inhumanity 
while  quietly  residing  in  their  once  happy  and  peace- 
ful dwelling.  The  miserable  fate  of  Miss  M'^Creawas 
partly  aggravated  by  her  being  dressed  to  receive 
her  promised  husband ;  but  met  her  murderers  em- 
ployed by  you.  Upwards  of  one  hundred  men, 
women  and  children  have  perished  by  the  hands  of 
these  ruffians,  to  whom  it  is  asserted,  you  have  paid 
the  price  of  blood.     Inclosed  are  letters  from  your 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Jouriial. 


263 


wounded  officers,  prisoners  in  my  hands,  by  whom 
you  will  be  informed  of  the  generosity  of  their  Con- 
querers.  Such  cloathing,  necessaries,  attendants  &^ 
which  your  excellency  pleases  to  send  to  the  prisoners 
shall  be  carefully  delivered.     I  am,  sir,  your  most 

Humble  servant 

H.  GATES.''' 

Sir.  I  received  your  letter  of  the  2^  inst,  and  in 
consequence  of  your  complying  with  my  proposal, 
have  sent  the  baggage,  servants  Ba^  of  those  officers, 
who  are  prisoners  in  your  hands.  I  have  hesitated, 
sir,  upon  answering  the  other  paragraphs  of  your 
letter.  I  disdain  to  justify  myself  against  the  rhap- 
sodies of  fiction,  and  calumny,  which  from  the  first 
of  this  contest,  it  has  been  an  unvaried  American 
policy  to  propagate ;  but  which  no  longer  impose 
upon  the  world.  I  am  induced  to  deviate  from  this 
rule  in  the  present  instance,  lest  my  silence  should 
be  construed  an  acknowledgement  of  the  truth  of 
your  allegation,  and  a  pretence  be  thence  taken  for 
exercising  future  barbarities  by  the  American  troops. 
Upon  this  motive,  and  upon  this  alone,  I  condescend 
to  inform  you,  that  I  would  not  be  conscious  of  the 

^^2  After  General  Gates  had  written  this  letter  to  Burgoyne, 
he  called  General  Lincoln  and  his  aide-de-camp,  Wilkinson, 
to  hear  it  read.  Upon  being  pressed  for  an  opinion  respect- 
ing it,  his  hearers  suggested  that  it  might  be  considered 
somewhat  too  personal,  to  which  the  old  general   replied 

with  his  usual  profane  bluntness:  " ,  I  don't  believe 

either  of  you  can  mend  it,"  and  abruptly  terminated  the 
consultation. 


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264 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


acts,  you  presume  to  impute  to  me,  for  the  whole 
continent  of  America,  tho.  the  wealth  of  worlds  were 
in  its  bowels  and  a  paradise  on  its  surface.  It  has 
happened,  that  all  my  transactions  with  the  Indian 
nations  last  year  and  this,  have  been  open,  clearly 
heard,  distinctly  .understood  and  accurately  minuted 
by  very  numerous,  and  in  many  parts,  very  prejudiced 
audiences.  So  diametrically  opposite  to  truth  is  your 
assertion  that  I  have  paid  a  price  for  scalps,  that  one 
of  the  first  regulations  established  by  me  at  the  great 
Council  in  May,  and  repeated  and  enforced,  and 
invariably  adhered  to  since,  was  that  the  Indians 
should  receive  compensation  for  prisoners,  because 
it  would  prevent  cruelty,  and  that  not  only  such  com- 
pensations should  be  witheld,  but  a  strict  account 
demanded  for  scalps.  These  pledges  of  Conquest  — 
for  such  you  well  know  they  will  ever  esteem  them  — 
were  solemnly  and  peremptorily  prohibited  to  be 
taken  from  the  wounded  and  even  the  dying,  and 
the  persons  of  aged  men,  women  and  children,  and 
prisoners  were  pronounced  sacred  even,  in  assaults. — 
Respecting  Miss  M'^Crea;  her  fall  wanted  not  the 
tragic  display  you  have  laboured  to  give  it,  to  make 
it  as  sincerely  abhorred  and  lamented  by  me,  as  it 
can  possibly  be  by  the  tenderest  of  her  friends.  The 
fact  was  no  premeditated  barbarity,  on  the  contrary, 
two  chiefs  who  had  brought  her  off  for  the  purpose 
of  security,  not  of  violence  to  her  person,  disputed 
who  should  be  her  guard,  and  in  a  fit  of  savage  pas- 
sion in  the  one  from  whose  hands  she  was  snatched, 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


265 


« 


the  unhappy  woman  became  the  victim.  Upon  the 
first  intelligence  of  the  events,  I  obliged  the  Indians 
to  deliver  the  murderer  into  my  hands,  and  tho  to 
have  punished  him  by  our  laws  and  principles  of 
justice  would  have  been  perhaps  unprecedented,  he 
certainly  should  have  suffered  an  ignominous  d^h, 
had  I  not  been  convinced,  by  circumstances  and 
observation  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt,  that  a 
pardon  under  the  terms  I  prescribed  and  they  ac- 
cepted, would  be  more  efficatious  than  an  execution 
to  prevent  similar  mischiefs.  The  above  instance 
excepted,  your  intelligence  respecting  cruelties  of  the 
Indians  is  absolutely  false.  You  seem  to  threaten 
me  with  European  publications,  which  affect  me  as 
little  as  any  other  threats  you  could  make,  but  in 
regard  to  American  publications,  whether  the  charge 
against  me,  (which  I  acquit  you  of  believing),  was 
pencilled  from  a  gazette  or  for  a  gazette,  I  desire 
and  demand  of  you,  as  a  man  of  honour,  that  should 
it  appear  in  print  at  all,  this  answer  may  follow  it. 
I  am  Sir, 

Your  humble  servant, 

JNo.  BURGOYNE. 

6*^  We  were  pretty  credibly  informed  by  accounts 
which  came  from  the  enemy,  and  were  depended 
upon,  that  in  the  action  near  Bennington,  i6**'  August, 
we  had  killed,  wounded,  prisoners  and  missing — 
including  wounded  in  our  hospitals,  who  escaped  — 
near  1000  men.  It  was  then  expected  we  should 
34 


'.(I ' 


liji  I    "■ 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 

shortly  move,  as  the  magazines  of  provisions  and 
other  stores  were  mostly  up,  and  our  new  bridge 
over  the  Hudson  river  was  near  finished.  Our  re- 
moval from  that  post  was  also  very  necessary,  in 
respect  of  procuring  forage,  which  began  then  to 
tu]^  very  scarce  ;  indeed,  I  wonder  we  did  so  well, 
as  it  was  amazing  the  great  quantity  of  hay,  Indian 
corn  Ba''  we  were  obliged  to  provide  for  so  great  a 
number  of  cattle.  Potatoes  and  all  other  vegetables 
were  long  before  consumed,  and  very  few  fresh  pro- 
visions to  be  got  then.  A  few  of  our  wounded  offi- 
cers and  men  from  the  hospitals  of  Ticonderoga 
joined  the  army  ;  also  captain  Wight  and  others, 
who  suffered  from  fever  and  such  disorders,  came 
up.  The  weather  then  began  to  turn  cold  in  the 
mornings  and  evenings,  which  was  but  badly  calcu- 
lated for  the  light  cloathing  of  the  army,  most  of  our 
winter  apparel  being  sent  from  Skeensborough  to 
Ticonderoga  in  July.  Many  officers  had  also  sent 
back  their  tents  and  markees,  of  which  I  was  one, 
and  in  their  place  substituted  a  soldier's  tent,  which 
were  then  cold  at  nights  though  a  luxury  to  what  we 
after  experienced 

IO*^  About  II  o'clock,  an  express  arrived  with 
intelligence  that  the  enemy  were  on  the  move,  and 
had  advanced  from  their  camp  at  Half  Moon  to 
Still  water,  a  few  miles  nearer  us,  but  they  might 
have  saved  themselves  that  trouble,  as  we  should 
soon  have  been  up  with  them.  He  also  informed 
[us]  that  in  consequence  of  that  unfortunate  affair  at 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


267 


Bennington,  they  were  joined  by  some  thousands  of 
Militia,  who  in  all  probability  would  have  remained 
neuter  had  we  proved  successful.  From  these  ac- 
counts we  threw  up  more  works  to  protect  our  camp 
till  ready  to  move  towards  them  ;  after  which  we 
should  be  as  liable  to  an  attack  in  our  rear  as  front, 
and  the  waiting  to  secure  every  store  S:*^  against  such 
an  attack,  caused  our  being  so  long  on  that  post 

1 1*\  We  received  orders  to  be  in  readiness  to 
cross  the  Hudson  river  at  a  moment's  warning;  but 
all  that  day  was  a  continued  fall  of  heavy  rain, 
which  continued  till  the  l3'^  when  the  morning  being 
very  fine,  the  army  passed  over  the  Bridge  of  boats 
and  encamped  on  the  heights  of  Saratoga.  We 
encamped  in  three  columns  in  order  of  Battle.  The 
duty  here  turned  very  severe,  such  numbers  being 
constantly  on  either  guards  or  picquets  ;  during  that 
day  and  the  next  we  had  many  small  alarms,  as 
parties  of  theirs  came  very  near  our  camp  ;  but  a 
few  companies  soon  sent  them  off. 

15^^  Moved  about  3  miles  nearer  the  enemy,  and 
took  post  on  a  strong  position  late  in  the  evening, 
and  had  just  time  to  pitch  our  camp  before  dark  ; 
about  1 1  at  night  we  received  orders  to  stand  to  our 
arms,  and  about  12  I  returned  to  my  tent  and  lay 
down  to  get  a  little  rest,  but  was  soon  alarmed  by  a 
great  noise  of  fire,  and  on  running  out  saw  Major 
Ackland's  tent  and  markee  all  in  a  blaze,  on  which  I 
made  the  greatest  haste  possible  to  their  assistance, 
but  before   I   could  arrive.  Lady  Harriot  Ackland, 


^''  I  Hivai 


t 


i'5i 


e 


268 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


who  was  asleep  in  the  tent  when  it  took  fire,  had 
providentially  escaped  under  the  back  of  it ;  but  the 
major  was  much  burned  in  trying  to  save  her.'^^ 
What  must  a  woman  of  her  rank,  family  and  fortune 
feel  in  her  then  disagreeable  situation  ;  liable  to 
constant  alarms  and  not  knowing  the  moment  of  an 

^^^Anburey  has  the  following  account  of  this  occurrence: 
"  Our  situation,  as  being  the  advanced  post  of  the  army,  was 
frequently  so  very  alert  that  we  seldom  slept  out  of  our 
cloaths.  In  one  of  these  situations  a  tent,  in  which  Major 
Ackland  and  Lady  Harriet  were  asleep,  suddenly  caught 
fire;  the  major's  orderly  sergeant,  with  great  danger  of 
suffocation,  dragged  out  the  first  person  he  got  hold  of, 
which  was  the  major.  It  providentially  happened  that  in 
the  same  instant  Lady  Harriet,  without  knowing  what  she 
did,  and  perhaps  not  perfectly  awake,  made  her  escape,  by 
creepmg  under  the  walls  in  the  back  part  of  the  tent,  and 
upon  recovering  her  senses,  conceive  what  her  feelings  must 
be  when  the  first  object  she  beheld  was  the  major,  in  the 
midst  of  the  flames,  in  search  of  her !  The  sergeant  again 
saved  him,  but  the  major's  face  and  body  was  burnt  in  a 
very  severe  manner ;  every  thing  they  had  with  them  in  the 
tent  was  consumed.  This  accident  was  occasioned  by  a 
favorite  Newfoundland  dog,  who  being  very  restless,  over- 
set the  table  on  which  a  candle  was  burning,  (the  major 
always  had  a  light  in  his  tent  during  the  night,  when  our 
situation  required  it)  and  it  rolling  to  the  walls  of  the  tent, 
instantly  set  them  on  fire."  The  almost  romantic  attach- 
ment of  Burgoyne's  two  officers.  Major  Acland  and  General 
Riedesel  and  their  lovely  and  devoted  wives,  relieves  in  a 
striking  manner  the  horrors  of  the  campaign,  so  strongly 
contrasted  is  it  with  the  suffering  and  selfishness  which 
everywhere  prevailed.  Here  were  two  gentle  and  refined 
women  amid  the  wreck  and  ruin  of  war,  and  always  very 
near  to  the  portals  of  death,  livmg  an  almost  idyllic  life  of 
unselfish  devotion  and  love  to  their  husbands,  and  of  charity 
and  self-sacrifice  to  those  about  them.  Truly  it  is  a  spectacle 
worthy  of  contemplation ! 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


269 


attack  ;  but  from  her  attachment  to  the  major,  her 
ladyship  bore  everything,  with  a  degree  of  steadiness, 
and  resokition,  that  could  alone  be  expected  from  an 
experienced  veteran. 

16'^  A  detachment  with  about  2000  men  with  6 
pieces  of  cannon  attended  Gen  Burgoyne  on  a  recon- 
noitering  party  towards  the  enemy.  We  remained 
out  till  near  night,  and  fired  our  evening  gun  at  sun 
set  to  make  them  imagine  we  had  taken  post  so  much 
nearer  them  ;  and  afterwards  returned  to  our  camp 
with  the  gun.  We  heard  Gen  Gates  had  been  there 
the  preceding  day  attended  by  a  corps  of  riflemen. 
It  was  then  pretty  certain  and  generally  believed, 
and  indeed  wished  for,  that  we  should  shortly  have 
a  decisive  engagement, —  I  say  wished  for,  as  they 
never  would  allow  us  to  go  into  winter  quarters,  till 
we  had  gained  some  great  advantage  over  them ; 
should  that  be  the  case,  many  of  the  country  people 
would  join  us,  but  not  till  then  —  they  choosing  to 
be  on  the  strongest  side. 

17^^  The  whole  moved  about  9  in  the  morning, 
and  tho  we  were  marching  till  near  night,  we  came 
but  3  miles  nearer  them  —  we  going  a  great  circuit 
thro  thick  woods,  for  such  is  all  that  country  —  in 
order  to  keep  possession  of  the  heights,  we  lay  on 
our  arms  not  having  light  or  time  to  pitch  our  tents. 

I8'^  About  1 1  in  the  morning,  we  heard  the  report 
of  small  arms  at  a  small  distance.  It  was  a  party  of 
the  enemy,  who  surprised  some  unarmed  men  forag- 
ing not  far  from  our  camp.     They  killed  &  wounded 


titMimniMii 


rqg.-a-'r-'T-i^-ri-r;:- 


270 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


'St 


13,  and  then  retreated'^*  on  our  sending  a  party  to 
oppose  them  ;  and  during  that  day  and  night  we 
were  very  watchful  and  remained  under  arms. 

I9^^     At  day  break  intelHgence  was  received,  that 
Colonel   Morgan,''^  ^j^h   the  advance  party  of  the 

^^  A  number  of  men  belonging  to  the  British  camp  were 
endeavoring  to  get  some  potatoes  in  a  field  near  by  for  their 
mess  when  surprised  by  the  Americans.  Anburey  says  that 
they  might  easily  have  been  taken  prisoners,  and  states  the 
number  killed  and  wounded  to  have  been  near  thirty.  He 
remarks  that  "  such  cruel  and  unjustifiable  conduct  can  have 
no  good  tendency,  while  it  serves  greatly  to  increase  hatred, 
and  a  thirst  for  revenge."  Vide  Travels  Through  the  Inte- 
rior Parts  of  America,  vol.  i,  p.  409. 

^^'^  Daniel  Morgan  has  been  claimed  to  be  a  native  both  of 
Pennsylvania  and  of  New  Jersey,  but  his  biographer,  Graham, 
decides  that  he  was  born  in  Hunterdon  county.  New  Jersey, 
in  the  winter  of  1736.  Hio  parents  were  Welsh,  and  his 
early  life  one  of  hardship.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  ran 
away  from  home  and  found  employment  as  a  farm  laborer 
in  Virginia.  He  was  a  wagoner  in  the  Braddock  expedi- 
tion and  noted  for  his  great  strength  and  daring.  While  in 
the  frontier  service  the  next  year,  he  was  beaten  with  five 
hundred  lashes  for  striking  a  British  lieutenant  in  return  for 
a  blow  which  the  officer  bestowed  upon  him  with  his  sword, 
under  the  severity  of  which  punishment  he  would  have  suc- 
cumbed had  not  his  constitution  been  of  iron.  The  terrible 
marks  of  this  beating,  which  "  cut  his  flesh  to  ribbons,"  he 
bore  to  his  grave.  He  was  commissioned  an  ensign  in  1758, 
and,  after  a  rough  life  of  a  few  years,  married  and  settled 
down  as  a  farmer  in  Virginia.  When  the  news  of  the  battle 
of  Lexington  reached  him,  he  mustered  a  picked  company 
of  riflemen  and  marched  with  them  to  Cambridge,  a  distance 
of  six  hundred  miles,  in  twenty-one  days.  It  was  in  the 
dusk  of  evening  when  Morgan  met  General  Washington, 
who  was  riding  out  to  inspect  the  camp.  As  they  met, 
Morgan  touched  his  broad-brimmed  hat  and  said  :  **  General 
—  from  the  right  bank  of  the  Potomac."    Hastily  dismount- 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


271 


enemy,  consisting  of  a  corps  of  rifle  men,  were  strong 
about  3  miles  from  us  ;  their  main  body  amounting  to 
great  numbers  encamped  on  a  very  strong  post  about 
half  a  mile  in  their  rear  ;  and  about  9  o'clock  we 
began  our  march,  every  man  prepared  with  60  rounds 

ing,  Washington  "  took  the  captain's  hand  in  both  of  his 
and  pressed  it  silently.  Then  passing  down  the  line,  he 
pressed,  in  turn,  the  hand  of  every  soldier,  large  tears 
streaming  down  the  noble  cheeks  as  he  did  so.  Without 
a  word  he  then  remounted  his  horse,  saluted,  and  returned 
to  the  camp."  In  Arnold's  campaign  against  Canada,  Mor- 
gan was  an  active  spirit,  and  was  taken  a  prisoner  in  the 
attack  upon  Quebec.  It  is  said  that  he  wept  when  he 
realized  the  hopelessness  of  the  campaign.  While  in  con- 
finement he  was  offered  a  colonel's  commission  to  join  the 
British,  but  repelled  the  offer  with  indignation.  After  being 
exchanged,  he  joined  the  army  of  defense  and  did  noble 
service  in  the  battles  which  preceded  the  surrender  of  Bur- 
goyne.  At  the  close  of  the  battle  which  decided  this  event, 
it  is  said  that  Gates  approached  him  with  a  proposition  to 
desert  Washington  and  support  his  pretensions  to  the  chief 
command,  but  was  indignantly  repelled  by  Morgan,  who  re- 
plied :  "  I  will  serve  under  no  other  man  but  Washington." 
For  this  reply  Gates  revenged  himself  by  not  mentioning 
his  name  in  his  report  of  the  battle  in  which  he  rendered 
such  distinguished  service.  After  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne, 
he  served  in  the  South,  and  achieved  honor  at  the  battle  of 
the  Cowpens,  for  which  he  was  awarded  a  gold  medal  by 
Congress.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  retired  to  his  Vir- 
ginian farm,  which  he  named  Saratoga  ;  but,  upon  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  whisky  insurrection  in  western  Virginia,  in 
1794,  he  was  called  to  command  the  militia  for  its  suppres- 
sion, and  soon  after  was  elected  to  Congress.  Before  the 
close  of  his  term  he  retired,  prostrated  by  sickness.  Wash- 
ington, however,  continued  to  consult  him,  although  he  was 
incapacitated  for  service.  He  died  at  Manchester,  Virginia, 
July  6,  1802.  Vide  The  Life  of  Daniel  Morgan  (Graham); 
also,  A  Sketch  of  Morgan  by  John  Esten  Cooke. 


mtJL. 


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J II II  ii;«iii.Miii  i\rmiim''^^^^n^iifimmmmiimifmmim 


■f 


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f 


272 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


of  cartridge  and  ready  for  instant  action.  We  moved 
in  3  colums,  ours  to  the  right  on  the  heights  and 
farthest  from  the  river  in  thick  woods.  A  little  after 
12  our  advanced  picquets  came  up  with  Colonel 
Morgan  and  engaged,  but  from  the  great  superiority 
of  fire  received  from  him  —  his  numbers  being  much 
greater —  they  were  obliged  to  fall  back,  every  officer 
being  either  killed  or  wounded  except  one,'^^  when 

*^^The  sharpshooters  of  Morgan  caused  great  havoc  in  the 
British  ranks.  Lamb  says  :  "  Several  of  the  Americans 
placed  themselves  in  high  trees,  and,  as  often  as  they  could 
distinguish  a  British  officer's  uniform,  took  him  off  by  de- 
liberately aiming  at  his  person."  Anburey  describes  most 
graphically  the  terrible  scenes  of  the  day  following  this  bat- 
tle :  "  Our  army,"  he  says,  "  abounded  with  young  officers, 
in  the  subaltern  line,  and  in  the  course  of  this  unpleasant 
duty  (the  burial  of  the  dead),  three  of  the  20th  rer^  • 
ment  were  interred  together,  the  age  of  the  eldest  not 
exceeding  seventeen.  —  In  the  course  of  the  last  action. 
Lieutenant  Hervey,  of  the  62nd,  a  youth  of  sixteen, 
and  nephew  of  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  same  name,  re- 
ceived several  wounds,  and  was  repeatedly  ordered  off  the 
field  by  Colonel  Anstruther ;  but  his  heroic  ardor  would  not 
allow  him  to  quit  the  battle,  while  he  could  stand  and  see 
his  brave  lads  fighting  beside  him.  A  ball  striking  one  of 
his  legs,  his  removal  became  absolutely  necessary,  and  while 
they  were  conveying  him  away,  another  wounded  him  mor- 
tally. In  this  situation  the  surgeon  recommended  him  to 
take  a  powerful  dose  of  opium,  to  avoid  a  seven  or  eight 
hours' ^life  of  most  exquisite  torture;  this  he  immediately 
consented  to,  and  when  the  Colonel  entered  the  tent  with 
Major  Harnage,  who  were  both  wounded,  they  asked  whether 
he  had  any  affairs  they  could  settle  for  him  ?  his  reply  was, 

*  that  being  a  minor,  every  thing  was  already  adjusted  ; '  but 
he  had  one  request,  which  he  had  just  life  enough  to  utter, 

*  Tell  my  uncle  I  died  like  a  soldier.'  Where  will  you  find 
in  ancient  Rome  heroism  superior ! "     This  mode  of  war- 


ill 


i  ■? 


Vd*^'*'-. 


I 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


273 


■ 


the  line  came  up  to  their  support  and  obliged  Morgan 
in  his  turn  to  retreat  with  loss.  About  half  past  one, 
the  fire  seemed  to  slacken  a  little  ;  but  it  was  only 
to  come  on  with  double  force,  as  between  2  &  3  the 
action  became  general  on  their  side.  From  the 
situation  of  the  ground,  and  their  being  perfectly 
acquainted  with  it,  the  whole  of  our  troops  could 
not  be  brought  to  engage  together,  which  was  a 
very  material  disadvantage,  though  everything  pos- 
sible was  tried  to  remedy  that  inconvenience,  but  to 
no  effect,  such  an  explosion  of  fire  I  never  had  any 
idea  of  before,  and  the  heavy  artillery  joining  in  con- 
cert like  great  peals  of  thunder,  assisted  by  the 
echoes  of  the  woods,  almost  deafened  us  with  the 
noise.  To  an  unconcerned  spectator,  it  must  have 
had  the  most  awful  and  glorious  appearance,  the  dif- 
ferent Battalions  moving  to  relieve  each  other,  some 
being  pressed  and  almost  broke  by  their  superior 
numbers.  This  crash  of  cannon  and  musketry  never 
ceased  till  darkness  parted  us,  when  they  retired  to 
their  camp,  leaving  us  masters  of  the  field ;  but  it 
was  a  dear  bought  victory  if  I  can  give  it  that  name, 
as  we  lost  many  brave  men.  The  62°^^  had  scarce  \o 
men  a  company  left,  and  other  regiments  suffered 
much,  and  no  very  great  advantage,  honor  excepted, 
was  gained    by  the  day.     On  its   turning   dusk  we 

fare,  in  which  the  officers  were  singled  out  by  accurate 
marksmen  for  death,  was  new  to  the  British  and  deemed  by 
them  cruel.  Vide  Journal  of  Occurrences  During  the  Late 
American  War,  p.  1 59 ;  Travels  Through  the  Interior  Parte 
of  America,  vol.  i,  p.  423,  et  seq. 

35 


2  74 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


were  near  firing  on  a  body  of  our  Germans,  mis- 
taking their  dark  clothing  for  that  of  the  enemy. 
General  Burgoyne  was  every  where  and  did  every 
thing  [that]  could  be  expected  from  a  brave  officer,'^' 
&  Brig  gen.  Frazier  gained  great  honour  by  exposing 
himself  to  every  danger.  During  the  night  we  re- 
mained in  our  ranks,  and  tho  we  heard  the  groans  of 
our  wounded  and  dying  at  a  small  distance,  yet  could 
not  assist  them  till  morning,  not  knowing  the  posi- 
tion of  the  enemy,  and  expecting  the  action  would  be 
renewed  at  day  break.  Sleep  was  a  stranger  to  us, 
but  we  were  all  in  good  spirits  and  ready  to  obey 
with  cheerfulness  any  orders  the  general  might  issue 
before  morning  dawned. 

20^\  At  day  break  we  sent  out  parties  to  bring  in 
our  wounded,  and  lit  fires  as  we  were  almost  froze 
with  cold,  and  our  wounded  who  lived  till  the  morn- 
ing must  have  severely  felt  it.  We  scarce  knew  how 
the  rest  of  our  army  had  fared  the  preceding  day, 
nor  had  we  tasted  victuals  or  even  water  for  some 
time  before  ;  so  sent  parties  for  each.  At  1 1  o'clock, 
some  of  our  advanced  sentrys  were   fired   upon   by 

^*^  Lamb,  who  was  present,  speaks  of  this  in  his  journal, 
and  others  comment  upon  Burgoyne's  coolness  and  courage 
in  battle  —  placing  himself  in  the  fore  front  of  danger,  a 
conspicuous  object  for  the  American  sharpshooters,  against 
whose  bullets  he  seemed  to  bear  a  charmed  life.  His  pres- 
ence among  his  troops  was  in  marked  contrast  to  the  action 
of  Gates,  who  remained  in  the  rear  and  witnessed  no  part  of 
this  or  the  previous  battle ;  in  fact,  we  are  told  by  Wilkin- 
son, what  seems  almost  incredible  :  "  That  not  a  single  gen- 
eral officer  was  on  the  field  of  battle  the  igth  Sept.  until  the 
evening,  when  General  Learned  was  ordered  out." 


1 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


275 


their  rifle  men,  and  we  thought  it  the  prelude  to 
another  action  ;  but  they  were  soon  silenced.  It  was 
Gen  Phillips  and  Fraziers  opinion  we  should  follow 
the  stroke  by  attacking  their  camp  that  morning ; 
and  it  is  believed,  as  affairs  after  turned  out,  it  would 
have  been  better  for  the  army  to  have  done  so ;  why 
it  was  not  attended,  to  I  am  not  a  judge  ,  tho  I 
believe  Gen  Burgoyne  had  material  objections  to  it, 
particularly  our  hospitals  being  so  full  and  the  maga- 
zines not  properly  secured  to  risque  that  move- 
ment.'^^     About   12    the   general  reconnoitered  our 

198  Wilkinson  gives  us  a  conversation  held  by  him  with  Gen- 
eral Phillips,  in  which  the  latter  fully  explains  the  reason  why 
Burgoyne  did  not  attack  Gates  on  the  twentieth.  Said  Phil- 
lips: "After  the  affair  of  the  19th  September  terminated. 
General  Burgoyne  determined  to  attack  you  the  next  morn- 
ing on  your  left,  with  his  whole  force;  our  wounded,  and 
sick,  and  women  had  been  disposed  of  at  the  river ;  the 
army  was  formed  early  on  the  morning  of  the  20th,  and  we 
waited  only  for  the  dispersion  of  the  fog,  when  General 
Fraser  observed  to  General  Burgoyne,  that  the  grenadiers 
and  light  infantry  who  were  to  lead  the  attack,  appeared 
fatigued  by  the  duty  of  the  preceding  day,  and  that  if  he 
would  suspend  the  operation  until  the  next  morning,  he  was 
persuaded  they  would  carry  the  attack  with  more  vivacity. 
Burgoyne  yielded  to  the  proposition  of  Fraser ;  the  orders 
were  countermanded,  and  the  corps  returned  to  camp  ;  and 
as  if  intended  for  your  safety  and  our  destruction,  in  the 
course  of  the  night,  a  spy  reached  Burgoyne  with  a  letter 
from  General  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  advising  him  of  his  in- 
tended expedition  against  the  highlands,  which  determined 
Burgoyne  to  postpone  the  meditated  attack  of  your  army, 
and  wait  events  ;  the  golden,  glorious  opportunity  was  lost  — 
you  grew  stronger  every  day,  and  on  the  7th  of  October  over- 
whelmed us."  This  is  a  very  different  account  from  Digby's. 
Vide  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  p.  251,  et  seq. 


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276 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Jotirnal. 


post  and  contracted  the  extent  of  ground  we  then 
covered  to  a  more  secure  one  nearer  the  river,  which 
we  took  up  in  the  evening  —  our  left  flank  near  the 
Hudson  river  to  guard  our  battows  and  stores,  and 
our  right  extending  near  two  miles  to  heights  west  of 
the  river,  with  strong  ravines,  both  in  our  front  and 
rear,  the  former  nearly  within  cannon  shot  of  the 
enemy.  On  our  taking  up  this  ground,  we  buried 
numbers  of  their  dead.  Their  loss  must  have  been 
considerable,  as  the  fire  was  very  severe.  Contiguous 
to  our  ground  wds  a  fine  field  of  Indian  corn,  which 
greatly  served  our  horses,  who  had  but  little  care 
taken  of  them  the  last  2  days,  and  many  were  killed 
the  19^^  it  night,  half  stood  to  their  arms,  and  so 
relieved  each  other,  in  which  time  of  watch  we  could 
distinctly  hear  them  in  the  wood  between  us  felling 
trees  ;  from  which  we  supposed  they  were  fortifying 
their  camp,  which  by  all  accounts,  and  the  situation 
of  the  country,  we  had  reason  to  believe  v/as  very 
strong 

2i^S  Their  morning  gun,  from  its  report,  seemed 
almost  as  near  as  our  own,  and  soon  after  we  heard 
them  beating  their  drums  frequently  for  orders.  At 
12  we  heard  them  huzzaing  in  their  camp,  after  which 
they  fired  13  heavy  guns,  which  we  imagined  might 
be  signals  for  an  attack ;  and  which  would  be  the 
most  fortunate  event  that  we  could  have  wished, 
our  position  being  so  very  advantageous.  Soon 
after  we  found  it  was  a  Feu-de-joy,  but  for  what  cause 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


277 


we  could  not  tell,'''  In  the  evenin^^,  an  express  was 
sent  thro  the  woods  to  Gen  Clinton,  informing  him 
that  if  he  could  not  advance  nearer  to  Albany,  by 
which  movement  many  troops  then  opposing  us  would 
be  drawn  off  to  stop  his  progress,  we  should  be 
obliged  to  return  to  Ticonderoga  by  12*^  October  at 
farthest,  as  our  provisions  would  not  allow  of  our 
remaining  there  beyond  that  period.  At  6  in  the 
evening  we  encamped.  It  rained  very  heavy,  and 
the  general  often  expressed  his  desire  that  the  men 
would  take  some  rest  —  being  greatly  harassed  after 
their  great  fatigue  —  to  make  them  the  better  able 
to  bear  what  might  follow.  The  night  was  constant 
rain,  and  we  lay  accoutred  in  our  tents 

2  2°^^.  Formed  a  bridge  oi  boats  across  the  Hudson, 
on  the  left  flank  of  our  line.  A  spy  from  the  enemy 
was  taken  near  our  camp,  and  we  had  reason  to  sup- 
pose there  were  many  others  around.  He  informed 
that  they  had  a  report  Gen  Burgoyne  was  killed  on 
the  l9^^  which  must  have  arose  from  Cap"  Green, "^ 

^^T\i\?>  feu-de-joie  was  probably  caused  by  the  reception  of 
the  news  of  the  partially  successful  expedition  against  Ticon- 
deroga in  the  rear  of  Burgoyne's  army.  On  the  eighteenth. 
Colonel  Brown  attacked  Ticonderoga  and  captured  a  portion 
of  the  Fifty-third  Regiment  in  the  old  French  lines  and  re- 
leased about  a  hundred  prisoners,  which  were  held  by  the 
British.  He  also  took  an  armed  vessel  stationed  to  defend 
the  carrying  place,  with  several  officers.  Digby  does  not 
recognize  the  fact  that  one  gun  was  fired  for  each  of  the 
colonies. 

^Charles  Green  was  born  December  18,  1749,  at  Gibral- 
tar, where  his  father  was  stationed  with  his  regiment.    At 


!• 


.1; 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Jourftal. 


one  of  the  aid  de  camps,  being  wounded  and  falling 
from  his  horse  near  the  general.  About  noon  there 
was  a  confused  report  of  Gen  Clinton's  comeing  up 
the  river,  and  it  must  be  owned  Gen  Burgoyne  was 


the  early  age  of  eleven  he  became  a  gentleman  cadet  in  the 
Royal  Artillery,  and  an  ensign  in  the  Thirty-first  Foot  at 
the  age  of  sixteen.  November  23,  1769,  he  was  made  a 
lieutenant  —  his  regiment  being  then  in  Florida  —  and 
served  against  the  Charibs  in  1772-3.  In  May  he  returned 
to  England  and  was  appointed  adjutant  of  his  regiment,  and 
became,  in  1774,  a  captain-lieutenant  by  purchase.  He 
served  in  the  campaign  of  'y6^  and,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
campaign  of  '"j^y,  was  made  aide-de-camp  to  Major-General 
Phillips.  After  recovering  from  the  wound  which  Digby 
here  mentions,  he  returned  in  March,  1778,  to  England,  and 
became  aide-de-camp  to  Lieutenant-General  Oughton.  He 
rejoined  his  regiment  in  Canada,  in  1780,  and  was  appointed 
major  of  brigade  the  following  year.  He  became  major  of 
the  Thirty-first  by  purchase  in  1788.  In  1793  he  was  made 
lieutenant-colonel  of  a  battalion,  and  the  next  year  was 
transferred  to  the  Thirtieth  Foot,  which  he  accompanied 
to  Corsica,  where  he  remained  until  1796,  when  he  received 
the  appointment  of  coast  governor  of  Grenada,  which  office 
he  retained  until  1801,  when  he  returned  to  England,  and, 
in  January,  1797,  was  promoted  to  a  colonelcy.  In  October, 
1798,  he  received  a  further  promotion  to  the  rank  of  briga- 
dier general,  and  for  some  time  commanded  in  Ireland.  He 
was  raised  to  the  honor  of  knighthood.  May  3,  1803,  and  in 
the  spring  of  1804  conducted  an  expedition  against  Surinam, 
and,  after  its  capture,  administered  the  civil  government 
there  for  a  year,  when,  owing  to  broken  health,  he  returned 
to  England,  and  was  further  honored  by  being  created  a 
baronet,  December  5,  1805.  ^"^  May,  1807,  he  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  garrison  at  Malta,  which  position  he  re- 
tained a  year,  and,  in  1809,  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  lieu- 
tenant-general, and,  in  18 19,  to  that  of  general-  He  died 
at  Cheltenham,  England,  in  1831.  Vide  British  Army  Lists, 
in  loco ;  Annual  Biography  and  Obituary,  vol.  16,  p.  439. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal.  279 

too  ready  to  believe  any  report  in  our  favour.  Orders 
were  given  for  our  cannon  to  fire  8  rounds  at  mid 
night  from  the  park  of  Artillery.  It  was  done  with 
a  view  of  causing  the  enemy  to  draw  in  their  out 
posts  expecting  an  attack,  at  which  time  2  officers  in 
disguise  were  sent  express  to  Gen  Clinton  with 
messages  to  the  same  effect  as  was  sent  the  2i''\  The 
intention  answered,  as  they  stood  to  their  works  all 
that  night  which  was  constant  rain. 

23''*'.  It  was  said  we  were  to  strengthen  our  camp 
and  wait  some  favourable  accounts  ffom  Gen  Clinton, 
and  accordingly  began  to  fell  trees  for  that  purpose. 
I  visited  our  hospitals,  which  were  much  crowded, 
and  attended  the  Auctions  of  our  deceased  officers, 
which  for  the  time  caused  a  few  melancholy  ideas, 
though  still  confirmed  me  in  believing  that  the 
oftener  death  is  placed  before  our  eyes  the  less  ter- 
rible it  appears.  All  kinds  of  supplies  and  stores 
from  Canada  were  then  entirely  cut  off,  as  the  com- 
munication was  dropped,  and  the  variety  of  reports 
and  opinions  circulating  were  curious  and  entertain- 
ing, as  I  believe  our  situation  was  rather  uncommon  ; 
it  was  such  at  least  as  few  of  us  had  before  expe- 
rienced. Some  few  thought  we  should  be  ordered  to 
retreat  suddenly  under  cover  of  some  dark  night,  but 
that  was  not  thought  probable,  as  it  would  be  cruel 
to  leave  the  great  numbers  of  sick  and  wounded  we 
had  in  such  a  situation ;  we  also  were  certain  our 
general  would  try  another  action  before  a  retreat  was 
thought  on.     Others  said  we  waited  either  to  receive 


28o 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


a  reinforcement  from  Ticonderoga  or  Gen  Clinton, 
which  last  might  have  some  weight,  but  as  to  the 
former,  we  knew  there  were  too  few  troops  there  to 
be  able  to  spare  us  any.  Others  again  thought 
when  the  enemy  saw  us  determined  to  keep  our 
ground  and  heard  of  Gen  Clinton's  movements,  they 
would  draw  off  part  of  their  great  force  to  oppose 
him  ;  but  that  was  not  thought  very  probable  by 
their  receiving  so  large  reinforcements  daily  to  their 
camp.  On  the  whole,  I  believe  most  people's  opinions 
and  suppositions  were  rather  founded  on  what  they 
wished,  than  on  any  certain  knowledge  of  what  would 
happen  ;  time  only,  that  great  disposer  of  all  human 
events,  could  alone  unfold  to  us  what  was  to  come. 
Our  few  remaining  Indians  appeared  very  shy  at 
going  out  on  any  scouting  parties,  indeed,  I  always 
took  them  for  a  people,  whose  very  horrid  figure  had 
a  greater  effect  on  their  enemy  than  any  courage 
they  possessed,  as  their  cruel  turn  often  assured  me 
they  could  not  be  brave,  Humanity  &  pity  for  the 
misfortunes  of  the  wretched,  being  invariably  the 
constant  companions  of  true  courage  ;  theirs  is  savage 
and  will  never  steadily  look  on  danger.  We  there 
got  some  news  papers  of  the  enemy  taken  from  [a] 
deserter,  in  which  there  was  an  account  of  the  I9*^  by 
a  M''.  Wilkinson,  adjutant  genl.  to  their  army,  very 
partially  given,  saying  we  retreated  the  19^^  from  the 
field  of  battle,  which  was  absolutely  false  as  we  lay 
that  night  on  the  same  ground  we  fought  on,  as  a 
proof  of  which,  we  buried  their  dead  the  morning  of 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


281 


the  20""  —  they  not  venturing  near.  He  concludes  with 
a  poor,  low  expression,  saying,  "  On  the  20"*  the 
enemy  lay  very  quietly  licking  their  sores."'"' 

24'\  At  day  break  they  fired  on  our  German  picquet 
and  kille  '  3  men,  but  this  alarm  gave  us  no  unneces- 
sary trouble,  as  we  were  always  under  i*rms  an  hour 
before  day  and  remained  so  till  it  was  completely 
light.  During  the  night  it  rained  heavy,  and  on  the 
26^^  many  bodies  not  buried  deep  enough  in  the 
ground  appeared,  (from  the  great  rain),  as  the  soil 
was  a  light  sand,  and  caused  a  most  dreadful  smell. 
We  still  continued  making  more  works.  A  report 
[was]  circulated  [that]  Ticonderoga  was  taken,  but 
not  believed.  I  shall  here  insert  Gen  Gates'  orders 
to  his  troops  which  we  received  by  a  deserter  — 

Head  Quarters  of  the  army  of  the        ) 
United  States  September  26.  1777.  j 
"  The  public  business  having  so  entirely  engaged 
the  attention  of  the  General,  that  he  has  not  been 

^^  The  letter  here  referred  to  by  Digby  was  addressed  by 
Wilkinson  to  Colonel  Vischer,  who  was  at  Albany  on  the 
twentieth  of  September,  and  was  published  in  the  papers  of 
the  day.  In  it  he  said  :  "  The  concurrent  testimony  of  the 
prisoners  and  deserters  of  various  characters,  assures  us,  that 
General  Burgoyne  who  commanded  in  person  was  wounded 
in  the  left  shoulder,  that  the  62nd  regiment  was  cut  to  pieces, 
and  that  the  enemy  suffered  extremely  in  every  quarter 
where  they  were  engaged.  As  General  Burgoyne's  situa- 
tion will  shortly  constrain  him  to  a  decisive  action,  rein- 
forcements should  be  immediately  pushed  forward  to  our 
assistance,  as  our  numbers  are  far  from  being  equal  to  an 
insurance  of  victory,  and  every  bosom  must  anticipate  the 
consequences  of  a  defeat.  The  enemy  have  quietly  licked 
their  sores  this  day." 

36 


m' 


1 


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M 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 

properly  at  leisure  to  return  his  grateful  thanks  to 
Gen.  Poors '°"  &  Gen  Learned's'°3  Brigades,  to  the 

"^  Enoch  Poor  was  the  son  of  Thomas  and  a  grandson  of 
Daniel  Poor,  who  was  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the  settlement 
of  Andover,  Massachusetts,  in  which  town  Enoch  was  born 
in  1736.  After  receiving  his  education,  he  removed  to  Exe- 
ter, New  Hampshire,  and  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits. 
When  the  sound  of  the  guns  fired  at  Lexington  reached  his 
ears,  he  hastened  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  patriots,  and 
was  appointed  colonel  of  the  Second  New  Hampshire  Regi- 
ment. After  the  evacuation  of  Boston  his  regiment  was 
ordered  to  New  York,  and  later  joined  in  the  invasion  of 
Canada.  On  February  21,  1777,  he  was  appointed  a  briga- 
dier-general, and  did  valuable  service  in  the  campaign  of  that 
year  which  resulted  so  gloriously  for  the  cause  of  Independ- 
ence. After  witnessing  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  Gen- 
eral Poor  accompanied  his  command  to  the  Delaware,  where 
he  ably  supported  General  Washington  in  his  operations  in 
that  quarter,  and  shared  with  him  the  hardships  of  Valley 
Forge.  He  greatly  disti:  guished  himself  at  the  battle  of 
Monmouth,  and  later  in  an  expedition  against  the  Indians 
of  the  Six  Nations.  In  August,  1780,  General  Poor  was 
placed  in  command  of  a  brigade  under  Lafayette,  by  whom 
he  was  greatly  esteemed.  Unfortunately,  while  in  this  com- 
mand, he  had  a  quarrel  with  a  French  officer  and  was  killed 
by  him  in  a  duel,  September  8,  1780.  Washington,  when  he 
announced  his  death  to  Congress,  spc-:e  of  him  as  "an  offi- 
cer of  distinguished  merit,  who,  as  a  citizen  and  a  soldier, 
had  every  claim  to  the  esteem  of  his  country." 

^^  Ebenezer  Learned  was  born  at  Framingham,  Massachu- 
setts, in  1728,  and  served  as  a  captain  in  the  French  war  of 
1756-1763.  After  the  battle  of  Lexington,  which  fired  the 
military  ardor  of  the  country,  Learned  marched  with  the 
Third  Massachusetts  Regiment,  of  which  he  had  been  made 
colonel,  to  Cambridge,  which  place  he  reached  on  the  day 
after  the  battle.  When  the  army  was  ordered  to  New  York, 
Learned,  who  had  contracted  disease  in  the  service,  retired, 
by  permission  of  Congress,  in  May,  1776 ;  but,  recovering  his 
health  again,  offisreci  his  services  to  his  country,  and  was 


!SE!' 


\Jm^  iii. 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


283 


regiment  of  rifle  men,  to  the  corps  of  light  infantry 
and  to  Col°  Marshall's^"*  regiment  for  their  valiant 
behaviour  in  the  action  of  the  19"*  inst,  which  will  for 
ever  establish  and  confirm  the  reputation  of  the  arms 
of  the  United  States;  notwithstanding  the  General 
has  been  so  late  in  giving  this  public  mark  of  honour 
and  applause  to  the  brave  men,  whose  valour  has  so 
eminently  served  their  country,  he  assures  them  the 
just  praise  he  immediately  gave  to  the  Honorable, 
the  Continental  Congress,  will  remain  a  lasting  record 
of  their  honour  and  renown. 

By  the  account  of  the  enemy  ;  by  their  embar- 
rassed circumstances ;  by  the  desperate  situation  of 
their  affairs,  it  is  evident  they  must  endeavour  by 
one  rash  stroke  to  regain  all  they  have  lost,  that 
failing,  their  utter  ruin  is  inevitable.  The  General 
therefore  intreats  his  valiant  army,  that  they  will,  by 
the  exactness  of  their  discipline,  by  their  alertness  to 

appointed  a  brigadier-general  on  April  2,  1777,  and  he  soon 
after  joined  the  army,  which  was  concentrating  on  the  Hud- 
son to  repel  the  advance  of  the  British  invaders  from  Canada. 
He  participated  in  the  campaign  which  terminated  so  suc- 
cessfully for  the  patriots,  but,  his  health  again  failing,  he  was 
obliged  to  retire  permanently  from  military  service  on  March 
24,  1778.  He  was  made  a  pensioner  December  7,  1795,  and 
died  April  i,  1801,  at  Oxford,  Massachusetts. 

^•^  Thomas  Marshall  was  born  at  Boston,  Massachusetts, 
in  1718.  He  was  a  captain  in  the  Ancient  and  Honorable 
Artillery  Company  in  1763  and  the  four  following  years,  and 
was  made  major  of  a  regimejit  in  1765,  and  lieutenant-colonel 
in  1767.  He  was  in  command  of  the  Tenth  Massachusetts 
Regiment  at  the  time  here  spoken  of  by  Digby.  He  died 
at  Weston,  Massachusetts,  November  18,  1800. 


'■'ii»£&tiiUiiA>eiuiMiii',ri»Mij^!jhti 


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r^ji 


284 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


fly  to  their  arms  on  all  occasions,  and  particularly  by 
their  caution  not  to  be  surprised,  secure  that  victory, 
which  Almighty  Providence  (if  they  deserve  it)  will 
bless  their  labour  with." 

27th  \ye  received  the  unwelcome  news  that  a  letter 
from  Gen  Clinton  to  Gen  Burgoyne  (it  was  not  an 
answer  to  his  of  the  21^*)  had  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy.  On  the  express  being  taken  he  swal- 
lowed a  small  silver  bullet  in  which  the  letter  was, 
but  being  suspected,  a  severe  tartar  emetic  was  given 
him  which  brought  up  the  ball.''°^  We  also  heard 
they  were  in  possession  of  Skeensboro'  and  had  a 
post  both  there  and  at  Hubberton.  We  also  received 
accounts  of  their  making  an  attack  upon  Ticonderoga 
and  taking  prisoners  part  of  the  53'''^  regiment ;  but 
this  was  not  properly  authenticated.  In  the  evening 
our  few  remaining  Indians  left  us. 

28*^  A  large  detachment  was  ordered  out  to  forage 
for  the  army,  which  was  greatly  wanting,  as  all  our 
grass  was  ate  up  and  many  horses  dying  for  want. 
We  brought  in  some  hay  without  any  skirmish,  which 
we  expected  going  out. 

29*^  About  day  break  our  picquet  was  fired  on  from 
the  wood  in  front,  but  the  damage  was  trifling.  I 
suppose  seldom  two  armies  remained  looking  at  each 
other  so  long  without  coming  to  action.     A  man  of 

^*  It  will  be  seen  that  Digby  gives  the  version  of  this  affair 
which  is  consonant  with  the  evidence  relating  to  it,  which 
has  been  preserved.  He  says  that  the  message  taken  was 
from  Clinton  to  Burgoyne,  and  not  from  Burgoyne  to  Clin- 
ton, as  stated  by  Fonblanque.     Vide  ante,  note  26. 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


28s 


theirs  in  a  mistake  came  into  our  camp  in  place  of 
his  own,  and  being  challenged  by  our  sentry,  after 
recollecting  himself,  '*  I  believe,"  says  he,  "  I  am 
wrong  and  may  as  well  stay  where  I  am."  That  he 
might  be  pretty  certain  of. 

30*^  We  had  reason  to  imagine  they  intended  to 
open  a  battery  on  our  right ;  they  also  fired  three 
morning  guns  in  place  of  two,  which  caused  us  to 
expect  a  reinforcement,  which  was  soon  confirmed 
by  a  deserter  who  came  over  to  us.  That  evening 
20  Indians  joined  us  from  Canada ;  our  horses  were 
put  on  a  smaller  allowance 

October  2^^.  Dispatches  were  received  from  Brig- 
adier General  Powell,  who  commanded  at  Ticon- 
deroga  with  his  account  of  their  attempt  on  that 
place,  and  being  at  length  repulsed  with  loss  they 
retreated  over  the  mountains. 

3"^**.  Dispatches  from  Ticonderoga  were  taken  by 
the  enemy  coming  thro  the  woods  directed  by  an 
Indian. 

4^^  Our  picquet  was  fired  upon  near  day  break, 
but  as  our  owf  posts  were  strong,  and  we  all  slept 
with  our  clothes  on  ;  it  was  but  little  minded.  Here 
the  army  were  put  on  a  short  allowance  of  provisions, 
which  shewed  us  the  general  was  determined  to  wait 
the  arrival  of  general  Clinton,  (if  possible),  and  to 
this  the  troops  submitted  with  the  utmost  cheerful- 
ness. 

5*^  A  small  party  of  our  sailors  were  taken  by  the 
enemy,  also  about  20  horses,  that  strayed  near  their 


iiiiiiiiili'"  ' 


<:,rjitM-  .-iiinwfaatifefc. 


I 


I 


286 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


lines.  The  weather  continued  fair  and  dry  since 
26^**  September. 

6^^  I  went  out  on  a  large  forage  for  the  army,  and 
took  some  hay  near  their  camp.  On  our  return  we 
heard  a  heavy  fire  and  made  all  the  haste  possible 
with  the  forage.  It  was  occasioned  by  some  of  our 
ranger's  falling  in  with  a  party  of  theirs  ;  our  loss 
was  trifling.  At  night  we  fired  a  rocket  from  one  of 
our  cannon  at  12  o'clock,  the  reason  I  could  never 
hear  for  doing  so.  In  general  it  is  a  signal  between 
two  armies  at  a  small  distance,  but  that  could  not 
have  been  our  case.  During  the  night  there  were 
small  alarms  and  frequent  popping  shots,  fired  by 
sentrys  from  our  different  outposts. 

7*^  Expresses  were  received  from  Ticonderoga, 
but  what  the  purport  of  them  were  I  could  never 
learn.  A  detachment  of  1500  regular  troops  with 
two  1 2  pounders,  two  howitzers  and  six  6  pounders 
were  ordered  to  move  on  a  secret  expedition  and  to 
be  paraded  at  10  o'clock,  though  I  am  told.  Major 
Williams*"^  (Artillery)  objected  much  to  the  removal 
of  the  heavy  guns;  saying,  once  a  12  pounder  is 
removed   from   the    Park    of    artillery   in   America 

'^Griffith  Williams  became  a  gentleman  cadet  in  1744, 
and  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant-fireworker,  April  6,  1745. 
March  i,  1755,  he  was  advanced  to  the  position  of  first  lieu- 
tenant; January  i,  1759,  of  captain-lieutenant,  and  February 
12, 1760,  of  captain.  He  was  promoted  to  a  majority  in  the 
army,  February  17,  1776.  In  the  battle  of  October  seventh  he 
'*  kept  a  battery  in  action  until  the  artillery  horses  were  all 
destroyed,  and  his  men  either  killed  or  wounded;  being 
unable  to  get  off  their  guns,  he  was  surrounded  and  taken." 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


287 


(meaning  in  the  woods)  it  was  gone.  From  some 
delay,  the  detachment  did  not  move  till  near  one 
o'clock,  and  moved  from  the  right  of  our  camp  ;  soon 
after  which,  we  gained  an  eminence  within  half  a 
mile  of  their  camp,  where  the  troops  took  post  ;  but 
they  were  sufficiently  prepared  for  us,  as  a  deserter 
from  our  Artillery  went  over  to  them  that  morning 
and  informed  them  of  our  design.  This  I  have  since 
heard,  and  it  has  often  surprised  me  how  the  fellow 
could  be  so  very  exact  in  his  intelligence,  as  were  I 
taken  prisoner,  I  could  not  (had  I  ever  so  great 
a  desire)  have  informed  them  so  circumstantially. 
About  3  o'clock,  our  heavy  guns  began  to  play, 
but  the  wood  around  being  thick,  and  their  exact 
knowledge  of  our  small  force,  caused  them  to  ad- 
vance in  great  numbers,  pouring  in  a  superiority  of 
fire  from  Detachments  ordered  to  hang  upon  our 
flanks,  which  they  tried  if  possible  to  turn.  We 
could  not  receive  a  reinforcement  as  our  works, 
General  Hospital  Stores,  provisions  &*^  would  be  left 
defenceless,  on  which  an  order  was  given  for  us  to 
retreat,  but  not  before  we  lost  many  brave  men. 
Brigadier  General  Frazier  was  mortally  wounded 
which  helped  to  turn  the  fate  of   the  day.    When 

He  was  subsequently  exchanged,  and  became  a  major  in  the 
artillery,  March  21,  1780;  lieutenant-colonel,  January  9, 1782, 
and  colonel  of  the  Second  Battalion,  December  i,  1783.  He 
commanded  a  battery  at  the  siege  of  Gibraltar,  and  upon 
his  return,  was  in  command  at  Woolwich,  where  he  died 
March  18,  1790,  after  a  service  of  nearly  half  a  century. 
Vide  Kane's  Artillery  List  and  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ; 
History  of  the  Royal  Artillery  (Duncan),  vol.  i,  pp.  288, 315. 


"tT-T-TMl  Mm 


288 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


Ill 


IH  « 


ft 


if 
m 
m. 

!  -'    * 

iij: 


•M 


General  Burgoyne  saw  him  fall,  he  seemed  then  to 
feel  in  the  highest  degree  our  disagreeable  situation. 
He  was  the  only  person  we  could  carry  off  with  us. 
Our  cannon  were  surrounded  and  taken  —  the  men 
and  horses  being  all  killed — which  gave  them,  addi- 
tional spirits,  and  they  rushed  on  with  loud  shouts, 
when  we  drove  them  back  a  little  way  with  so  great 
loss  to  ourselves,  that  it  evidently  appeared  a  retreat 
was  the  only  thing  left  for  us.  They  still  advanced 
upon  our  works  under  a  severe  fire  of  grape  shot, 
which  in  some  measure  stopped  them,  by  the  great 
execution  we  saw  made  among  their  columns  ;  during 
which,  another  body  of  the  enemy  stormed  the  Ger- 
man lines  after  meeting  with  a  most  shameful  resist- 
ance, and  took  possession  of  all  their  camp  and 
equipage,  baggage  &•"  &^  Col°  Bremen  fell  nobly  at 
the  head  of  the  Foreigners,  and  by  his  death  blotted 
out  part  of  the  stain  his  countrymen  so  justly  merited 
from   that    days   behaviour.""^      On   our  retreating, 

^^  From  a  careful  study  of  the  action  of  the  German  sol- 
diers in  this  and  other  battles  of  the  campaign  of  ''j'j^  there 
seems  to  be  no  sufficient  ground  for  this  statement.  The 
German  soldiers  on  all  occasions  fought  bravely  and  with 
astonishing  persistence,  when  it  is  considered  how  little  they 
were  interested  in  the  success  or  failure  of  the  cause  for 
which  they  were  imperiling  their  lives.  In  this  case  they 
were  posted  to  defend  the  British  right  flank  behind  a  breast- 
work of  rails  extending  about  two  hundred  yards  across  a 
field.  The  rails  were  piled  horizontally  and  supported  by 
pickets  driven  into  the  ground.  The  space  between  this 
breastwork  and  the  great  redoubt  was  occupied  by  the  Cana- 
dian loyalists,  who  thus  protected  the  German  left  flank. 
While  Arnold  was  making  his  furious  attack  on  the  great 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


289 


which  was  pretty  regular,  considering  how  hard  we 
were  pressed  by  the  enemy,  General  Burgoyne  ap- 
peared greatly  agitated  as  the  danger  to  which  the 
lines  were  exposed  was  of  the  most  serious  nature  at 
that  particular  period.  I  should  be  sorry  from  my 
expression  of  agitated,  that  the  reader  should  imagine 
the  fears  of  personal  danger  was  the  smallest  cause 
of  it.  He  must  be  more  than  man,  who  could  undis- 
turbed look  on  and  preserve  his  natural  calmness, 
when  the  fate  of  so  many  were  at  stake,  and  entirely 
depended  on  the  orders  he  was  to  issue.  He  said  but 
little,  well  knowing  we  could  defend  the  lines  or  fall 
in  the  attempt.  Darkness  interposed,  (I  believe 
fo^unately  for  us)  which  put  an  end  to  the  action. 

redoubt,  a  large  portion  of  these  Canadians  were  absent 
from  their  post,  some  aiding  in  the  defense  of  the  great 
redoubt,  and  at  this  critical  moment  Learned  appeared  with 
his  brigade  and  drove  those  who  remained  from  their  posi- 
tion, leaving  the  German  left  flank  wholly  exposed.  It  was 
then  that  Arnold  came  upon  the  scene  from  his  attack  on 
the  great  redoubt,  and  taking  in  the  situation  at  a  glance, 
seized  Learned's  brigade,  and  rushing  through  the  open 
space  in  the  British  lines  left  by  the  retreat  of  the  Canadians, 
fell  upon  the  unprotected  left  flank  and  rear  of  the  Germans 
with  a  fury  which  forced  them  to  retreat,  leaving  their  gen- 
eral dead  on  the  field.  This  left  the  key  of  the  position  in 
the  hands  of  the  Americans.  Undoubtedly  this  was  disas- 
trous to  Burgoyne  ;  but  that  the  Germans  acted  cowardly  in 
the  matter,  we  have  no  evidence  to  prove.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  have  the  concurrent  testimony  of  English  officers 
that  they  were  brave  men,  although  in  this  case  they  have 
been  criticised  by  several  writers,  we  think,  without  a  full 
knowledge  of  all  the  facts.  The  courage  of  the  men  engaged 
in  this  campaign  —  English,  Germans  or  Americans  —  can- 
not be  justly  impugned. 

37 


Ill  i 


I 


ilill^iiii- 


I, 


290 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


General  Frazier  was  yet  living,  but  not  the  least 
hopes  of  him.  He  that  night  asked  if  Gen^  Bur- 
goynes  army  were  not  all  cut  to  pieces,  and  being 
informed  to  the  contrary,  appeared  for  a  moment 
pleased,  but  spoke  no  more.  Capt°  Wight  (53  Gren- 
adiers), my  captain,  was  shot  in  the  bowels  early  in 
the  action.  In  him  I  lost  a  sincere  friend.  He  lay 
in  that  situation  between  the  two  fires,  and  I  have 
been  since  informed  lived  till  the  next  day  and 
was  brought  into  their  camp.  Major  Ackland  was 
wounded  and  taken  prisoner  with  our  Quarter  master 
General,"^  and  Major  Williams  of  the  Artillery.    Sir 


^John  Money  was  a  native  of  Norwich,  England,  and 
was  commissioned  an  ensign  in  the  Norfolk  militia  in  1760, 
at  which  date  he  was  twenty  years  of  age.  The  next  year 
he  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Felinghausen  as  a  volunteer, 
and  March  11,  1762,  was  made  a  cornet  in  the  Sixth 
Dragoons;  February  10,  1770,  he  was  commissioned  a  cap- 
tain in  the  Ninth  Foot.  He  participated  in  the  campaign 
of  '76,  and  on  July  seventeenth  of  that  year  was  made  deputy 
quartermaster-general.  Digby  rightly  speaks  of  him  as  quar- 
termaster-general, as  at  this  time  he  was  acting  as  such.  Dur- 
ing this  and  the  previous  campaign,  he  distinguished  himself 
on  several  occasions.  Having  been  exchanged,  he  served 
on  the  staff  of  General  Cornwallis,  and  on  November  17, 
1780,  was  promoted  to  a  majority  in  the  army,  and  Septem- 
ber 28,  1 78 1,  took  this  position  in  the  Ninth  Foot.  He  was 
further  promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel  in  the 
army,  November  18,  1790,  colonel,  August  21,  1795,  major- 
general,  June  18,  1798,  lieutenant-general,  October  30,  1805, 
and  general,  June  4,  18 14.  During  this  time  he  was  on  half 
pay  as  a  major  of  the  Ninety-first  Foot,  and  was  the  author 
of  several  works  of  a  military  character.  He  died  on  his 
estate,  called  Crown  Point,  near  Norwich,  on  March  26, 
1 8 17.     Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco  ;  The  Georgian  Era, 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


291 


Francis  Clerk  fell,  Aid  de  camp  to  the  general,'*^ 
with  other  principal  officers.  Our  Grenadier  Com- 
pany out  of  20  men  going  out,  left  their  Captain  and 
16  men  on  the  field.  Some  here  did  not  scruple  to 
say,  General  Burgoyne's  manner  of  acting  verified  the 
rash  stroke  hinted  at  by  General  Gates  in  his  orders 
of  the  26^** ;  (see  page  281)  but  that  was  a  harsh  and 
severe  insinuation,  as  I  have  since  heard  his  intended 
design  was  to  take  post  on  a  rising  ground,  on  the 
left  of  their  camp, —  the  f^- — with  the  detachment, 
thinking  they  would  not  have  acted  on  the  offensive, 
but  stood  to  their  works,  and  on  that  night  our 
main  body  was  to  move,  so  as  to  be  prepared  to 
storm  their  lines  by  day  break  of  the  S'*^ ;  and  it 
appears  by  accounts  since,  that  Gen  Gates  would 
have  acted  on  the  defensive,  only  for  the  advice  of 
Brigadier  General  Arnold,  who  assured  him  from  his 
knowledge  of  the  troops,  a  vigorous  sally  would 
inspire  them  with  more  courage  than  waiting  behind 
their  works  for  our  attack,  and  also  their  knowledge 
of  the  woods  would  contribute  to  ensure  the  plan  he 
proposed.  During  the  night  we  were  employed  in 
moving  our  cannon  Baggage  Sc*^  nearer  to  the  river. 
It  was  clone  with  silence,  and  fires  were  kept  lighted 
to  cause  them  not  to  suspect  we  had  retired  from 

vol.  2,  p.  97 ;  Hadden's  Journal  and  Orderly  Books,  pp.  xlvii, 
xlix,  90,  225  ;  Journal  of  Occurrences  During  the  Late  Ameri- 
can War,  pp.  142,  176;  Remembrancer  of  Public  Events, 
vol.  II,  p.  28. 

^  Vide  ante,  note  126. 


i 


m 


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li 


!H 


4 


?!^ 


292 


LietUenant  Digbys  Journal, 


our  works  where  it  was  impossible  for  us  to  remain, 
as  the  German  lines  commanded  them,  and  were 
then  in  possession  of  the  enemy,  who  were  bringing 
up  cannon  to  bear  on  ours  at  day  break.  It  may 
easily  be  supposed  we  had  no  thought  for  sleep,  and 
some  time  before  day  we  retreated  nearer  to  the 
river.  Our  design  of  retreating  to  Ticonderoga  then 
became  public. 

8'\  Took  post  in  a  battery  which  commanded  the 
country  around,  and  the  rest  of  the  army  surrounding 
the  battery  and  under  cover  of  our  heavy  cannon. 
About  8  in  the  morning  we  perceived  the  enemy 
marching  from  their  camp  in  great  numbers,  blacken- 
ing the  fields  with  their  dark  clothing.  From  the 
height  of  the  work  and  by  the  help  of  our  glasses, 
we  could  distinguish  them  quite  plain.  They  brought 
some  pieces  of  cannon  and  attempted  to  throw  up  a 
work  for  them,  but  our  guns  soon  demolished  what 
they  had  executed.  Our  design  was  to  amuse  them 
during  the  day  with  our  cannon,  which  kept  them  at 
a  proper  distance,  and  at  night  to  make  our  retreat, 
but  they  soon  guessed  our  intentions,  and  sent  a 
large  body  of  troops  in  our  rear  to  push  for  the  pos- 
session of  the  heights  of  Fort  Edward.  During  the 
day  it  was  entertaining  enough,  as  I  had  no  idea  of 
artillery  being  so  well  served  as  ours  was.  Sometimes 
we  could  see  a  12  pounder  take  place  in  the  centre 
of  their  columns,  and  shells  burst  among  them, 
thrown  from  our  howitzers  with  the  greatest  judg- 
ment.   Most  of  their  shot  were  directed  at  our  bridge 


'>•*} 


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Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


293 


of  boats,  as  no  doubt  they  imagined  we  intended  to 
retreat  that  way  ;  but  their  guns  were  badly  served. 
About  1 1  o'clock  general  Frazier  died,  and  desired 
he  might  be  buried  in  that  battery  at  evening  gun 
fireing.  So  fell  the  best  officer  under  Burgoyne,  who 
from  his  earliest  years  was  bred  in  camps,  and  from 
the  many  engagements  he  had  been  in,  attained  a 
degree  of  coolness  and  steadiness  of  mind  in  the 
hour  of  danger,  that  alone  distinguishes  the  truly 
brave  man.  At  1 2  o  clock  some  of  their  balls  fell 
very  near  our  hospital  tents,  pitched  in  the  plain,  and 
from  their  size,  supposed  to  attract  their  notice,  tak- 
ing them  perhaps  for  the  general's  quarters,  on  which 
we  were  obliged  to  move  them  out  of  the  range  of 
fire,  which  was  a  most  shocking  scene, —  some  poor 
wretches  dying  in  the  attempt,  being  so  very  severely 
wounded.  At  sun  set  general  Frazier  was  buried  ac- 
cording to  his  desire,  and  general  Burgoyne  attended 
the  service,  which  was  performed  I  think  in  the  most 
solemn  manner  I  ever  before  saw ;  perhaps  the  scene 
around,  big  with  the  fate  of  many,  caused  it  to 
appear  more  so,  with  their  fireing  particularly  at  our 
battery,  during  the  time  of  its  continuance. '''^  About 
1 1  at  night,  the  army  began  their  retreat.  General 
Reidzel   commanding   the   Van   guard,    and    Major 

2^"  We  have  several  accounts  of  this  sad  sc^ne.  Madame 
Riedesel  is  especially  graphic  in  her  delineation  of  it,  and, 
as  her  memoirs  are  not  accessible  to  most  readers,  we  may  be 
permitted  to  copy  from  them  :  "  I  had  just  sat  down  with  my 
husband  at  his  quarters  to  breakfast.  General  Frazier  and, 
I  believe,  General  Burgoyne  were  to  have  dined  with  me  on 


Hi^l^ 

'    '*'     !|   i 

■■^■1 

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ill 


i 


294 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


General  Phillips  the  rear,  and  this  retreat,  though 
within  musket  shot  of  the  enemy  and  encumbered 
with  all  the  baggage  of  the  army,  was  made  without 
loss.  Our  battallion  was  left  to  cover  the  retreat  of 
the  whole,  which   from  numberless  impediments  did 

that  same  day.  I  observed  considerable  movement  among 
the  troops.  My  husband  thereupon  informed  me,  that  there 
was  to  be  a  reconnoissance,  which,  however,  did  not  surprise 
me,  as  this  often  happened.  On  my  way  homeward,  I  met 
many  savages  in  their  war  dress,  armed  with  guns.  To  my 
question  where  they  were  going,  the>  cried  out  to  me,  *  War! 
War!'  which  meant  that  they  were  going  to  fight.  This 
completely  overwhelmed  me,  anci  I  had  scarcely  got  back  to 
my  quarters,  when  I  heard  skirmishing,  and  firing,  which  by 
degrees,  became  constantly  heavier,  until,  finally,  the  noises 
became  frightful.  It  was  a  terrible  cannonade,  and  I  was 
more  dead  than  alive.  About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
in  place  of  the  guests  who  were  to  have  dined  with  me,  they 
brought  into  me  upon  a  liUer  poor  General  Frazier  (one  of 
my  expected  guests),  mortally  wounded.  Our  dining  table, 
which  was  already  spread,  was  taken  away  and  in  its  pl.-ice 
they  fixed  up  a  bed  for  the  general.  I  sat  in  the  corner  of 
the  room  trembling  and  quaking.  The  noises  grew  con- 
tinually louder.  The  thought  that  they  might  bring  in  my 
husband  in  the  same  manner  was  to  me  dreadful  and  tor- 
mented me  incessantly.  The  general  said  to  the  surgeon, 
*  Do  not  conceal  anything  from  me.  Must  I  die?'  The 
ball  had  gone  through  his  bowels,  precisely  as  in  the  case  of 
Major  Harnage.  Unfortunately,  however  the  general  had 
eaten  a  hearty  breakfast,  by  reason  of  which  the  intestines 
were  distended,  and  the  ball,  so  the  surgeon  said,  had  not 
gone,  as  in  the  case  of  Major  Harnage,  between  the  intes- 
tines but  through  them.  I  heard  him  often  amidst  his 
groans,  exclaim  *0h,  fatal  ambition!  Poor  General  Bur- 
goyne !  My  poor  wife ' !  Prayers  were  read  to  him.  He 
then  sent  a  message  to  General  Burgoyne,  begging  that  he 
would  have  him  buried  the  following  day  at  six  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  on  the  top  of  a  hill  which  was  a  sort  of  a 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


295 


not  move  until  near  4  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the 
9^^  and  were  then  much  delayed  in  breaking  up  the 
bridges  in  our  rear.  This  was  the  second  time  of 
their  being  destroyed  that  season  —  the  first  by  the 
enemy  to  prevent  our  pursueing  them.   What  a  great 

redoubt.  I  knew  no  longer  which  way  to  turn.  The  whole 
entry  and  the  other  rooms  were  filled  with  the  sick,  who 
were  suffering  with  the  camp  sickness,  a  kind  of  dysentery. 
Finally,  toward  evening,  I  saw  my  husband  coming,  upon 
which  I  forgot  all  my  sufferings,  and  thanked  God  that  he 
had  spared  him  to  me.  He  ate  in  great  haste  with  me  and 
his  adjutant  behind  the  house.  We  had  been  told  that  we 
had  gained  an  advantage  over  the  enemy,  but  the  sorrowful 
and  downcast  faces  which  I  beheld,  bore  witness  to  the  con- 
trary, and  before  my  husband  again  went  away,  he  drew  me 
one  side,  and  told  me  that  every  thing  mijht  go  very  badly, 
and  that  I  must  keep  myself  in  constant  readiness  for  de- 
parture ;  but  by  no  means  to  give  any  one  the  least  inkling 
of  what  I  was  doing.  I  therefore  pretended  that  I  wished 
to  move  into  my  new  house  the  next  morning,  and  had 
every  thing  packed  up.  My  Lady  Ackland  occupied  a  tent 
not  far  from  our  house.  In  this  she  slept,  but  during  the 
day  was  in  the  camp.  Suddenly  one  came  to  tell  her  that 
her  husband  was  mortally  wounded,  and  had  been  taken 
prisoner.  At  this  she  became  very  wretched.  We  com- 
forted her  by  saying  that  it  was  only  a  slight  wound,  but  as 
no  one  could  nurse  him  as  well  as  herself,  we  counseled  her 
to  go  at  once  to  him,  to  do  which  she  could  certainly  obtain 

permission, She  was  the  loveliest  of  women.   I  spent 

the  night  in  this  manner  —  at  one  time  comforting  her  and 
at  another  looking  after  my  children  whom  I  had  put  to  bed. 
As  for  myself,  I  could  not  go  to  sleep,  as  I  had  General 
Frazier  and  all  the  other  gentlemen  in  my  room,  and  was 
constantly  afraid  that  my  children  would  wake  up  and  cry,  and 
thus  disturb  the  poor  dying  man,  who  often  sent  to  beg  my 
pardon  for  making  me  so  much  trouble.  About  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  they  told  me  that  he  could  not  last  much 
longer.     I  had  desired  to  be  apprised  of  the  approach  of  this 


! 


hill 


'i  '] 


f  'r 


S 


r  ' 


296 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


alteration  in  affairs !  Our  hospitals  full  of  sick  and 
wounded  were  left  behind,  with  a  letter  from  general 
Burgoyne  to  general  Gates,  in  which  he  tells  him  he 
makes  no  doubt  of  his  care  to  the  sick  and  wounded, 
conscious  of  his  acting  in  the  same  manner  himself 

moment.  I  accordingly  wrapped  up  the  children  in  the  bed 
coverings  and  went  with  them  into  the  entry.  Early  in  the 
morning,  at  eight  o'clock,  he  expired.  After  they  had  washed 
the  corpse  they  wrapped  it  in  a  sheet  and  laid  it  on  a  bed- 
stead. We  then  again  came  into  the  room,  and  had  this  sad 
sight  before  us  the  whole  day.  At  every  instant,  also, 
wounded  officers  of  my  acquaintance  arrived,  and  the  can- 
nonade again  began.  A  retreat  was  spoken  of  but  there  was 
not  the  least  movement  made  toward  it.  About  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  I  saw  the  new  house  which  had  been  built 
for  me  in  flames :  the  enemy,  therefore,  were  not  far  from  is. 
We  learned  that  General  Burgoyne  intended  to  fulfill  he 
last  wish  of  General  Frazier,  and  to  have  him  buried  at  six 
o'clock,  in  the  place  designated  by  him.  This  occasioned  an 
unnecessary  delay,  to  which  a  part  of  the  misfortunes  of  the 
army  was  owing.  Precisely  at  six  o'clock  the  corpse  was 
brought  out,  and  we  saw  the  entire  body  of  generals  with 
their  retinues  on  the  hill  assisting  at  the  obsequies.  The 
English  chaplain,  Mr.  Brudenel,  performed  the  funeral  ser- 
vices. The  cannon  balls  flew  continually  around  and  over 
the  party.  The  American  general.  Gates,  said  that  if  he  had 
known  that  it  was  a  burial  he  would  not  have  allowed  any 
firing  in  that  direction.  Many  cannon  balls  also  flew  not  far 
from  me,  but  I  had  my  eyes  fixed  upon  the  hill,  where  I  dis- 
tinctly saw  my  husband  in  the  midst  of  the  enemy's  fire,  and 
therefore  I  could  not  think  of  my  own  danger.  *The  order 
had  gone  forth  that  the  army  should  break  up  after  the 
burial,  and  the  horses  were  already  harnessed  to  our  calashes. 
I  did  not  wish  to  set  out  before  the  troops.  The  wounded 
Major  Harnage,  although  he  was  so  ill,  dragged  himself  out 
of  bed,  that  he  might  not  remain  in  the  hospital,  which  was 
left  behind  protected  by  a  flag  of  truce.  As  soon  as  he 
observed  me  in  the  midst  of  danger,  he  had  my  children 


am 


mmimmmitmmiammimimmtmititk 


m 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


297 


had  the  fortune  of  war  placed  it  in  his  reach.  During 
our  march,  it  surprised  us  their  not  placing  troops  on 
the  heights  we  were  obliged  to  pass  under,  as  by  so 
doing,  we  must  have  suffered  much.  We  came  up 
with  the  general  and  the  line  about  9  in  the  morning 
at  Davagot,"'  seven  miles  from  the  enemy.  It  then 
began  to  rain  very  hard  and  continued  so  all  day. 
We  halted  till  near  3  in  the  evening,  which  surprised 
many ;  about  which  time,  a  large  body  of  the  enemy 
were  perceived  on  the  other  side  the  river,  and  sup- 
posed to  be  on  their  way  to  Fort  Edward  in  order  to 
obstruct  our  crossing  at  that  place,  on  which  we  were 
immediately  ordered  to  march  after  burning  all  unnec- 

and  maid  servants  put  into  the  calashes,  and  intimated  to 
me  that  I  must  immediately  depart.  As  I  still  begged  to  be 
allowed  to  remain,  he  said  to  me,  'Well  then  your  children 
at  least  must  go,  that  I  may  save  them  from  the  slightest 
danger.'  He  understood  how  to  take  advantage  of  my  weak 
side.  I  gave  it  up,  seated  myself  inside  with  them,  and  we 
drove  off  with  them  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening.  The 
greatest  silence  had  been  enjoined,  fires  had  been  kindled  in 
every  direction :  and  many  tents  left  standing,  to  make  the 
enemy  believe  that  the  camp  was  still  there.  We  traveled 
continually  the  whole  night.  Little  Frederica  was  afraid 
and  would  often  begin  to  cry.  I  was,  therefore,  obliged  to 
hold  a  pocket  handkerchief  over  her  mouth,  lest  our  where- 
abouts should  be  discovered.  At  six  o'clock  in  the  morning 
a  halt  was  made,  at  which  every  one  wondered.  General 
Burgoyne  had  all  the  cannon  ranged  and  counted,  which 
worried  all  of  us,  as  a  few  more  good  marches  would  have 
placed  us  in  security."  Vide  Letters  and  Journals  of  Madame 
Riedesel,  pp.  116-123. 

^"  This  place  is  now  called  Coveville.  The  old  name  is 
said  to  have  been  derived  from  dovecote,  on  account,  per- 
haps, of  having  been  a  haunt  for  wild  pigeons. 

38 


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298 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


essary  baggage,  camp  equipage  and  many  wagons 
and  carts,  which  much  delayed  our  line  of  march. 
Here  Lady  Harriot  Ackland  was  prevailed  to  go  to 
the  enemy,  or  I  might  rather  say,  it  was  her  wish  to 
do  so,  her  husband,  the  major,  being  a  prisoner. 
She  was  conducted  to  general  Gates  by  a  chaplain,'" 
and  received,  I  am  informed,  by  him  with  the  great- 
est politeness  possible ;  indeed  he  must  have  been  a 
brute  to  have  acted  otherwise. "^  We  waded  the  Fish 


2^^  Rev.  Edward  Brudenel  was  the  chaplain  to  the  artil- 
lery, and  is  the  person  to  whom  Fonblanque  erroneously 
marries  Lady  Acland  after  the  major's  death.  His  bravery 
was  marked  at  this  terrible  funeral  by  his  "  steady  attitude 
and  his  unaltered  voice,  though  frequently  covered  with  dust 
which  the  shot  threw  up  on  all  sides  of  him."  He  subse- 
quently became  the  rector  of  a  parish  in  Lincolnshire,  and 
died  in  London,  June  25,  1805.  Vide  note  to  Hadden's 
Journal,  p.  106. 

^^^  The  account  of  the  manner  in  which  Lady  Acland 
received  the  news  of  her  husband's  dangerous  condition, 
namely,  that  he  was  mortally  wounded  and  a  prisoner  in 
the  enemy's  hands  is  related  by  the  Baroness  Riedesel  and 
quoted  in  note  210.  She  resolved  to  go  to  him,  and  applied 
to  Burgoyne  for  permission,  who  says :  "  Though  I  was  ready 
to  believe  that  patience  and  fortitude  in  a  supreme  degree 
were  to  be  found,  as  well  as  every  other  virtue,  under  the 
most  tender  forms,  I  was  astonished  at  this  proposal.  After 
so  long  an  agitation  of  spirits,  exhausted  not  only  for  want 
of  rest,  but  absolutely  want  of  food,  drenched  in  rains  for 
twelve  hours  together,  that  a  woman  should  be  capable  of 
such  an  undertaking  as  delivering  herself  to  an  enemy  prob- 
ably in  the  night,  and  uncertain  of  what  hands  she  might 
fall  into,  appeared  an  effort  above  human  nature.  The 
assistance  I  was  enabled  to  give  was  small  indeed.  I  had 
not  even  a  cup  of  wine  to  offer  her;  but  was  told  she  had 
found,  from  some  kind  and  fortunate  hand,  a  little  rum  and 
dirty  water.     All  I  could  furnish  to  her  was  an  open  boat 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


299 


Kiln  near  Schylers  house,  about  8  o'clock  that  night, 
—  the  enemy  having  destroyed  the  Bridge  some  days 

and  a  few  lines,  written  upon  dirty  and  wet  paper,  to  Gen- 
eral Gates,  recommending  her  to  his  protection.  In  this 
open  boat,  accompanied  by  Chaplain  Brudenel,  her  maid 
and  husband's  body  servant,  who  was  wounded,  at  night-fall 
and  in  the  midst  of  an  icy  storm,  she  set  out  on  her  danger- 
ous 'indertaking.  It  was  ten  o'clock  when  they  reached  the 
outpost,  and  Lady  Acland  hailed  it  herself.  Major  Dearborn 
was  in  command,  and  the  party  were  conducted  to  his  quar- 
ters, —  a  log  cabin  on  the  shore  of  the  lake.  Here  they 
were  detained  until  sunrise,  but  Lady  Acland's  mind  was 
partially  relieved  from  anxiety  by  the  announcement  that 
her  husband  was  not  in  danger  from  his  wounds."  Wilkinson 
says  :  '*  I  visited  the  guard  before  sunrise,  her  boat  had 
put  off  and  was  floating  down  the  stream  to  our  camp,  where 
General  Gates,  whose  gallantry  will  not  be  denied,  stood 
ready  to  receive  her  with  all  the  tenderness  and  respect 
to  which  her  rank  and  condition  gave  her  a  claim ;  indeed 
the  feminine  figure,  the  benign  aspect,  and  polished  manners 
of  this  charming  woman,  were  alone  sufficient  to  attract  the 
sympathy  of  the  most  obdurate  ;  but  if  another  motive  could 
have  been  wanting  to  inspire  respect,  it  was  furnished  by  the 
peculiar  circumstances  of  Lady  Harriet,  then  in  that  most 
delicate  situation,  which  cannot  fail  to  interest  the  solici- 
tudes of  every  being  possessing  the  form  and  feelings  of  a 
man."  Lady  Acland  is  always  spoken  of  as  a  woman  of 
charming  refinement.  General  Gates,  in  a  letter  to  his  wife, 
said  :  "  She  is  the  most  amiable,  delicate  piece  of  quality 
you  ever  beheld.''  She  was  greatly  beloved  in  the  army  for 
her  kind  attentions  to  the  sick  and  wounded,  often  denying 
herself  such  little  comforts  as  came  to  her  in  order  to  bestow 
them  upon  the  suffering.  A  widow  for  thirty  seven  years, 
she  died,  July  21,  181 5.  Vide  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times, 
vol.  I,  pp.  284,  377  ;  Journal  of  Occurrences  During  the  Late 
American  War,  pp.  185-189;  Historical  Magazine,  vol.  4, 
p.  9  ;  Political  and  Military  Episodes,  pp.  297-302  ;  Memoirs 
of  Madame  Riedesel,  p.  120;  Campaign  of  General  John 
Burgoyne  (Stone),  Appendix  7. 


I 


■!.-■(  I 
'.'  If  f 


^}'i 


300 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


before  —  and  took  post  soon  after  on  the  heights  of 
Saratoga,  where  we  remained  all  night  under  constant 
heavy  rain,  without  fires  or  any  kind  of  shelter  to 
guard  us  from  the  inclemency  of  the  weather.  It  was 
impossible  to  sleep,  even  had  we  an  inclination  to  do 
so,  from  the  cold  and  rain,  and  our  only  entertain- 
ment was  the  report  of  some  popping  shots  heard 
now  and  then  from  the  other  side  the  great  river  at 
our  Battows.'"* 

io*\  Preparations  were  made  early  in  the  morning 
to  push  for  the  heights  of  Fort  Edward,  and  a  detach- 
ment of  artificers  we  sent  under  a  strong  escort 
to  repair  the  bridges  and  open  the  road  to  that  place. 
The  47^''  regiment,  Captain  Frazier's  marksmen  and 
MacKay's  provincials'''^  were  ordered  for  that  service  ; 

'^^^  Madame  Riedesel  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the 
distressing  condition  of  affairs  at  this  period  in  Burgoyne's 
army.     Vide  Her  Letters  and  Journal,  pp.  124-134. 

^^*  Samuel  McKay  was  an  ensign  in  the  Sixty-second  Foot, 
December  30,  1755,  and  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieu- 
tenant, December  6,  1756,  at  which  time  he  was  in  America. 
He  served  through  the  French  war,  and  at  its  conclusion,  in 
1763,  retired  upon  half  pay.  He  was  in  command  of  a  body 
of  Canadian  volunteers  at  Fort  St.  John  when  it  was  captured 
by  Montgomery  in  September,  1775,  and  was  made  a  pris- 
oner. He  was  sent  to  Hartford,  and  while  there  on  parole, 
attempted  to  escape,  but  was  recaptured  and  roughly  handled 
by  his  captors.  He  was  confined  in  jail,  it  was  thought, 
securely,  but  succeeded  in  making  his  escape ;  and  making 
his  way  to  Canada,  raised  a  company  of  volunteers,  with 
which  he  joined  St.  Leger's  expedition.  He  went  safely 
through  the  campaign  of  '']']y  and  died  in  the  summer  of 
1779.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco  ;  American  Archives, 
4th  Series,  vol.  4,  p.  248;  5  Ibid.,  vol.  5,  p.  452  ;  Ibid.,  vol. 
6,  pp.  563,  574,  601,  633  ;  5th  Series,  vol.  i,  p.  133. 


u 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


301 


but  about  1 1  o  clock,  intelligence  was  received  that 
the  enemy  were  surrounding  us,  on  which  it  was 
resolved  to  maintain  our  post,  and  expresses  were  sent 
to  recall  the  47'^  regiment  &^  We  burned  Schyler's 
house  to  prevent  a  lodgement  being  formed  behind 
it,"^  and  almost  all  our  remaining  baggage,  rather 

^•^  Digby  doubtless  gives  the  correct  version  of  this  affair. 
Burgoyne  was  charged  with  having  destroyed  property  un- 
necessarily, but  denied  it  in  Parliament  in  the  following 
words:  "  I  am  ignorant  of  any  such  circumstance ;  I  do  not 
recollect  more  than  one  accident  by  fire.  I  positively  assert 
there  was  no  fire  by  order  or  countenance  of  myself,  or  any 
other  officer  except  at  Saratoga.  That  district  is  the  prop- 
erty of  Major  General  Schuyler  of  the  American  troops ; 
there  were  large  barracks  built  by  him,  which  took  fire  the 
day  after  the  army  arrived  upon  the  ground  in  their  retreat, 
and  I  believe  I  need  not  state  any  other  proof  of  that  mat- 
ter being  merely  accident,  than  that  the  barracks  were  then 
made  use  of  as  my  hospital,  and  full  of  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers.  General  Schuyler  had  likewise  a  very  good  dwell- 
ing house,  exceeding  large  storehouses,  great  saw  mills  and 
other  out  buildings,  to  the  value  altogether  of  perhaps  ten 
thousand  pounds ;  a  few  days  before  the  negotiations  with 
General  Gates,  the  enemy  had  formed  a  plan  to  attack  me ; 
a  large  column  of  troops  were  approaching  to  pass  the  small 
river,  preparatory  to  a  general  action,  and  were  entirely 
covered  from  the  fire  of  my  artillery  by  these  buildings. 
Sir,  I  know  that  I  gave  the  order  to  set  them  on  fire ;  and  in 
a  vary  short  time  that  whole  property  I  have  described,  was 
consumed.  But  to  shew  that  the  person  most  deeply  con- 
cerned in  that  calamity,  did  not  put  the  construction  upon 
it  which  it  has  pleased  the  honourable  gentleman  to  do,  I 
must  inform  the  house,  that  one  of  the  first  persons  I  saw, 
after  the  convention  was  signed  was  General  Schuyler.  I 
expressed  to  him  my  regret  at  the  event  which  had  hap- 
pened, and  the  reasons  which  had  occasioned  it.  He  desired 
me  to  think  no  more  of  it ;  said  that  the  occasion  justified 
it,  according  to  the  principles  and  rules  of  war,  and  he  should 


»■  it 


w 


! 

<l      1 


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1, ,' 


!  ' 


302 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal, 


than  it  should  fall  into  their  hands.  Here  again 
the  discontented  part  of  the  army  were  of  opinion 
that  our  retreat  was  not  conducted  so  well  as  it 
might  have  been,  and  that  in  place  of  burning  our 
bridge  of  boats  over  the  Hudson,  which  we  left  on 
fire  on  our  retreating  the  night  of  the  8*^  from 
whence  it  was  evident  to  the  enemy  which  side  of 
the  river  we  intended  to  keep  on,  and  would  oblige 
us  to  ford  the  Hudson  opposite  to  where  they  had 
a  force  ;  consequently  would  be  attended  with  a 
disadvantage.  We  should  have  crossed  our  bridge 
on  the  night  of  the  8^**  to  gain  the  Fort  Edward 
side  of  the  river,  and  would  have  nothing  to  delay 
our  march  —  we  moving  so  many  hours  before  they 
were  apprized  of  our  motions.  They  also  declared 
our  halting  so  long  at  Davagot,  the  q^*"  within  7 
miles  of  the  enemy,  was  the  cause  of  our  being  sur- 
rounded, as  even  then  we  had  time  to  have  pushed 
on,  and  the  day  being  so  constant  rain  was  in  our 
favour,  as  had  we  attempted  to  ford  the  river  at 
Saratoga,  the  small  arms  of  the  enemy,  as  well  as 
ours  must  have  been  so  wet,  that  but  few  would  go 
off,  and  they  knew  our  superiority  at  the  bayonet. 
They  also  said  that  even  the  10^''  by  spiking  our  can- 
non and  destroying  all  our  baggage  S:*^  a  paltry  con- 
sideration in  comparison,  in  our  circumstances  —  we 
might  have  made  our  retreat  good  to  Fort  George, 

have  done  the  same  upon  the  same  occasion,  or  words  to 
that  effect."  Vide  Speech  of  General  Burgoyne  on  a  Motion 
of  Inquiry  made  by  Mr.  Vyner  in  Parliament,  May  26,  1778. 


i. 


11 


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Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


303 


saving  the  troops  and  Musquetry :  but  even  then  it 
was  not  certain  that  vessels  were  prepared  to  convey 
us  over  the  lake ;  in  which  case  it  would  have  been  a 
worse  post  than  Saratoga  for  the  army.  These  were 
the  opinions  of  unsatisfied  and  discontented  men, 
who  never  approved  of  anything  that  turned  out 
contrary  to  their  expectatio.is.  Had  Burgoyne  been 
fortunate,  they  would  not  have  dared  to  declare 
them  ;  as  he  was  unsuccessful,  they  set  him  down 
guilty.  However,  all  thoughts  of  a  retreat  were 
then  given  over,  and  a  determination  [made]  to  fall 
nobly  together,  rather  than  disgrace  the  name  of 
British  troops ;  on  which  we  immediately  changed 
our  ground  a  little,  and  under  the  protection  of  that 
night,  began  to  entrench  ourselves,  all  hands  being 
ordered  to  work.  We  werq  called  together  and 
desired  to  tell  our  men  that  their  own  safety,  as  well 
as  ours,  depended  on  their  making  a  vigorous 
defence  ;  but  that  I  was  sure  was  an  unnecessary 
caution, —  well  knowing  they  would  never  forfeit  the 
title  of  Soldiers.  As  for  the  Germans,  we  had  but  a 
poor  opinion  of  their  spirit  since  the  night  of  the  7*^ 
Certain  our  situation  was  not  the  most  pleasing  ;  but 
we  were  to  make  the  best  of  it,  and  I  had  long 
before  accustomed  and  familiarized  my  mind  to  bear 
with  patience  any  change  that  might  happen.  The 
men  worked  without  ceasing  during  the  night,  and 
without  the  least  complaining  of  fatigue,  our  cannon 
were  drawn  up  to  the  embrasures  and  pointed  ready 
to  receive  them  at  day  break. 


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304 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


1 1'^  Their  cannon  and  ours  began  to  play  on  each 
other.  They  took  many  of  our  Battovvs  on  the 
river,  as  our  cannon  could  not  protect  them.  We 
were  obHged  to  bring  our  oxen  and  horses  into  our 
lines,  where  they  had  the  wretched  prospect  of  liv- 
ing but  a  few  days,  as  our  grass  was  all  gone,  and 
nothing  after  but  the  leaves  of  the  trees  for  them ; 
still  they  continued  fireing  into  us  from  Batteries 
they  had  erected  during  the  night,  and  placed  their 
riflemen  in  the  tops  of  trees ;  but  still  did  not  ven- 
ture to  storm  our  works.  At  night  we  strengthened 
our  works  and  threw  up  more. 

12^^  Our  cattle  began  to  die  fast  and  the  stench 
was  very  prejudicial  in  so  small  a  space.  A  cannon 
shot  was  near  taking  the  general,  as  it  lodged  quite 
close  to  him  in  a  large  oak  tree.  We  now  began  to 
perceive  their  design  by  keeping  at  such  a  distance, 
which  was  to  starve  us  out.  I  believe  the  generals 
greatest  wish,  as  indeed  it  ought  to  be,  was  for  them 
to  attack  us,  but  they  acted  with  much  greater  pru- 
dence, well  knowing  what  a  great  slaughter  we  must 
have  made  among  them  :  they  also  knew  exactly 
the  state  of  our  provisions,  which  was  [sufficient  for] 
but  4  or  5  days  more,  and  that  upon  short  allowance. 
In  the  evening,  many  of  our  Canadian  drivers  of 
wagons,  carts  and  other  like  services,  found  means 
to  escape  from  us.  At  night,  I  ventured  to  take  a 
little  sleep  which  ha*d  long  been  a  stranger  to  me, 
and  tho  but  a  short  time  could  be  spared  between 
our  watches,  yet  [I]  found  myself  much  refreshed. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


305 


' 


We  were  all  in  pretty  good  health,  though  lying  in 
wet  trenches  newly  dug  must  be  very  prejudicial  to 
the  constitution,  and  tho  it  might  not  affect  it  for  the 
time,  yet  rheumatism  afterwards  would  be  the  cer- 
tain consequence. 

I3*^  Their  cannon  racked  our  post  very  much  ;  the 
bulk  of  their  army  was  hourly  reinforced  by  militia 
flocking  in  to  them  from  all  parts,  and  their  situa- 
tion, which  nearly  surrounded  us,  was  from  the 
nature  of  the  ground  unattackable  in  all  parts  ;  and 
since  the  7*^  the  men  lay  constantly  upon  their 
arms, —  Harassed  and  fatigued  beyond  measure,  from 
their  great  want  of  rest.  All  night  we  threw  up 
Traverse"^  to  our  works,  as  our  lines  were  enfiladed 
or  flanked  by  their  cannon. 

I4*^  A  council  of  war  was  called,  and  a  flag  of  truce 
sent  to  the  enemy  by  Major    Kingston,''^  and  the 

2"  A  traverse,  in  military  parlance,  is  a  breastwork  thrown 
up  to  protect  a  line  of  works  against  an  enfilading  or  reverse 
fire. 

2^*  Robert  Kingston  was  commissioned  an  ensign  in  the 
Eleventh  Foot,  September  3,  1756,  and  a  lieutenant,  Jan- 
uary 26,  1758.  August  8,  1759,  he  exchanged  into  Bur- 
goyne's  regiment,  the  Sixteenth  Light  Dragoons,  and 
served  in  the  Portugal  campaign,  in  which  Burgoyne  achieved 
renown.  For  his  meritorious  services  he  was  advanced  to 
the  grade  of  captain,  April  27,  1761 ;  was  made  major,  July 
15,  1768,  and  served  with  his  regiment  until  1774,  when  he 
went  on  half  pay  until  April  17,  1776.  He  accompanied 
Burgoyne  on  his  return  to  America  in  the  spring  of  1777,  as 
deputy  adjutant-general,  and  August  29,  1777,  became  a 
lieutenant-colonel  in  the  army,  and  after  the  death  of  Sir 
Francis  Gierke  took  that  lamented  officer's  position  of  sec- 

39 


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306 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


following  message  delivered  by  him  to  Gen  Gates 
from  Gen  Burgoyne.     "  I  am  directed  to  represent 


retary  to  General  Burgoyne.  He  it  was  who  conducted  the 
negotiations  leading  to  the  surrender.  On  approaching  the 
advanced  post  between  the  armies  he  was  met  by  Wilkinson, 
the  adjutant  of  Gates,  and  conducted  blindfolded  to  the  tent 
of  the  American  general.  Wilkinson  says  that,  at  this  time 
"  he  appeared  to  be  about  forty  ;  he  was  a  well-formed, 
ruddy,  handsome  man,  and  expatiated  with  taste  and  elo- 
quence on  the  beautiful  scenery  of  the  Hudson's  river  and 
the  charms  of  the  season.  When  I  introduced  him  into 
General  Gates'  tent  and  named  him,  the  gentlemen  saluted 
each  other  familiarly  with  *  General  Gates,  your  servant ; ' 
and  Kingston,  *  how  do  you  do?'  and  a  shake  of  the  hand." 
Having  read  to  Gates  this  communication  from  Burgoyne, 
Wilkinson  says:  "  To  my  utter  astonishment,  General  Gates 
put  his  hand  to  his  side  pocket,  pulled  out  a  paper,  and  pre- 
sented it  to  Kingston,  observing :  *  There,  sir,  are  the  terms 
on  which  General  Burgoyne  must  surrender'  The  major 
appeared  thunderstruck,  but  read  the  paper,  whilst  the  old 
chief  surveyed  him  attentively  through  his  spectacles."  We 
are  informed  that  he  at  first  declined  to  take  back  to  Bur- 
goyne the  terms  of  Gates,  but  finally  thought  better  of  it 
and  consented  to  do  so  upon  the  cogent  reason  given  by 
Gates,  "  that  as  he  had  brought  the  message  he  ought  to  take 
back  the  ansiverT  Kingston  was  commissioned  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  the  Eighty-sixth  Foot,  Sf  ■^♦^ember  30,  1779  J  ^^^ 
subsequently  appointed  lieutenan'  rnor  of  Demarara, 

and  was  in  command  when  tha'  was  surrendered  to 

the    French,  February  3,    17  .e   was   promoted   to  a 

colonelcy  in  the  army  on  th,  ,vventieth  of  the  following 
November,  and  served  for  seven  years  as  a  commissioner  on 
the  claims  of  loyalists  in  the  American  war.  He  was  made 
a  major-general,  October  12,  1793,  but  his  name  does  not 
appear  on  the  list  of  the  following  year.  Vide  British  Army 
Lists,  in  loco  ;  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  pp.  299- 
313  ;  The  Remembrancer  of  Public  Events,  vol.  14,  p.  333; 
The  Loyalists  of  America  and  their  Times  (Ryerson),  To- 
ronto, 1880,  vol.  2,  pp.  166-182. 


'Mat 


Lteuienant  Digby^  Journal. 


307 


to  you  from  Gen  Burgoyne,  that  after  having  fought 
you  twice,  he  has  waited  some  days  in  his  present 
situation  determined  to  try  a  third  conflict  against 
any  force  you  could  bring  to  attack  him  ;  he  is  ap- 
prized of  the  superiority  of  your  numbers,  and  the 
disposition  of  your  troops  to  impede  his  supplies 
and  render  his  retreat  a  scene  of  carnage  on  both 
sides.  In  this  situation  he  is  impelled  by  humanity 
and  thinks  himself  justified  by  established  principles 
and  precedent  of  state  and  of  war,  to  spare  the  lives 
of  brave  men  upon  honourable  terms.  Should  Major 
General  Gates  be  inclined  to  treat  upon  that  idea, 
Gen  Burgoyne  would  propose  a  cessation  of  arms 
during  the  time  necessary  to  communicate  the  prelim- 
inary terms,  by  which  in  any  extremity  he  and  his 
army  mean  to  abide."  It  was  then  generally  believed 
by  their  not  attacking  us,  and  our  speedy  want  of 
provisions,  that  terms  were  the  only  resource  left  us. 
What  could  be  thought  of  else  in  our  truly  distressed 
situation  ?  They,  of  course,  would  not  risque  an  action 
in  such  circumstances,  which  was  the  only  hope  left 
us,  as  by  their  declining  it,  we  must  in  consequence, 
fall  a  prey  to  want  and  hunger  which  then  stared  us 
fully  in  the  face.  On  the  return  of  the  ilag.  Gen 
Gates  sent  in  the  following  propositions,  to  which  I 
shall  insert  Gen  Burgoynes  replys  and  those  which 
it  was  impossible  for  us  to  accept,  were  our  situation 
ever  so  desperate,  are  in  my  opinion  most  spiritedly 
answered  by  General  Burgoyne. 


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308 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


General  Gates'  Propositions. 

1.  "Gen  Burgoyne's  army  being  exceedingly  re- 
duced by  repeated  defeats,  by  desertion,  sickness  &^ 
&^  their  provisions  exhausted,  their  military  stores 
tents  and  baggage  taken  or  destroyed,  their  retreat 
cut  off  and  their  camp  invested,  they  can  only  be 
allowed  to  surrender  prisoners  of  wa'  " 

Reply,  "  Lieut  General  Burgoyne's,  army  however 
reduced,  will  never  ar'.mit  that  their  retreat  is  cut  off, 
while  they  have  arms  in  their  hands." 

2.  *'  The  officers  and  soldiers  may  keep  their  bag- 
gage belonging  to  them,  the  Generals  of  the  United 
States,  never  permit  individuals  to  be  pillaged  " 

3.  "The  troops  under  his  excellency  Gen  Bur- 
goyne  will  be  conducted  by  the  most  convenient 
route  to  New  England,  marching  by  easy  marches 
and  sufficiently  provided  for  by  the  way." 

4.  "  The  officers  will  be  admitted  on  parole,  may 
wear  their  side  arms,  and  will  be  treated  with  the 
liberality  customary  in  Europe,  so  long  as  they,  by 
proper  behaviour  continue  to  deserve  it ;  but  those 
who  are  apprehended  having  broke  their  parole  (as 
some  British  officers  have  done)  must  expect  to  be 
close  confined" — 

Reply,  "  There  being  no  officers  in  this  army  under 
or  capable  of  being  under,  the  description  of  break- 
ing parole,  this  article  needs  no  answer." 

5.  "  All  public  stores,  Artillery,  Arms,  amunition, 
carriages  horses  ^"^  must  be  delivered  to  commis- 
saries appointed  to  receive  them." 


t'l 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal, 


309 


Reply  "  All  public  stores  may  be  delivered,  arms 
excepted." 

6.  "  These  terms  being  agreed  to  and  signed,  the 
troops  under  his  excellency  Gen  Burgoyne's  com- 
mand may  be  drawn  up  in  their  encampment,  when 
they  will  be  ordered  to  ground  their  arms  and  may 
thereupon  be  marched  to  the  river  side  to  be  passed 
over  on  their  way  towards  Bennington  " 

Reply  "  This  article  inadmissible  in  any  extremity. 
Sooner  than  this  army  will  consent  to  ground  their 
arms  in  their  encampment,  they  will  rush  on  the 
enemy  determined  to  take  no  quarter  " 


Signed 


^^C^ryrU^ 


7.  *'  A  cessation  of  arms  to  continue  until  sun  set 
to  receive  general  Burgoynes  answer  " 


-    ^- 


Signed 


Camp  at  Saratoga.  October  14^  1777. 

These  propositions  being  laid  before  the  council 
of  war  consisting  of  all  the  field  officers  of  the  army 
and  captains  commanding  corps  —  for  deaths  ha'd 
reduced  us  so  much  —  we  deemed  unhonourable 
to  be  accepted.  This  gave  the  greatest  satisfaction 
possible  to  Gen  Burgoyne,  who  wished,  if  possible, 
to  avoid  any  terms  ;  still  persisting  [in]  a  faint  glim- 


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Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


i 


mering  of  hope,  from  either  th£  arrival  of  Gen  Clinton 
or  some  other  unforseen  ana  providential  manner, 
of  our  being  extricated  from  the  many  difficulties 
that  then  surrounded  us.  At  night  another  council 
of  war  was  called,  and  terms  as  high  on  our  side  sent, 
supposing  a  medium  would  be  struck. 

15^^  A  cessation  of  arms  was  agreed  upon  till  2 
o'clock  at  Noon,  during  v/hi  h  we  walked  out  of  our 
lines  into  the  plain  by  the  river  and  between  both 
armies,  when  near  the  period  of  the  cessation  being 
over,  we  stood  to  our  works,  more  watchful  of  a  sur- 
prise than  at  any  other  time.    Col.  Sutherland"^  near 

2^^  Nicholas  Sutherland  was  commissioned  an  ensign  in  the 
Sixty-second  Foot,  June  14,  1755,  and  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  lieutenant  in  the  Seventy-seventh  Foot,  January 
8,  1757,  and  of  captain-lieutenant,  September  15,  1758,  at 
which  time  his  regiment  was  in  America.  He  took  part  in 
the  siege,  which  resulted  in  the  surrender  of  Fort.  Du 
Quesne,  and  the  next  year  was  in  an  expedition  against  the 
Cherokees,  in  which  he  was  wounded.  He  became  a  cap- 
tain, December  31,  1761,  and  the  next  year  took  part  in  an 
expedition  against  Martinico  and  Havana.  He  was  on  half 
pay  from  1763  till  March  14,  1765,  when  he  entered  the 
Twenty-first  Foot,  then  about  to  embark  for  America,  as 
captain.  He  became  major  in  this  regiment  by  purchase, 
February  21,  1772,  and  returned  shortly  after  to  England, 
where  the  Twenty-first  was  stationed  until  the  spring  of 
1776,  when  it  was  ordered  again  to  America,  and  after 
General  Nesbit's  death  he  was  advanced,  November  5,  1776, 
to  that  officer's  place  of  lieutenant-colonel.  In  the  nego- 
tiations for  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  he  was  an  important 
figure,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following :  The  terms  had  been 
practically  arranged,  October  fifteenth,  and  Captain  Craig,  at 
half-past  ten  o'clock,  had  written  to  Wilkinson,  the  aid-de- 
camp of  Gates,  that  they  had  received  Burgoyne's  approba- 
tion and  concurrence.     Owing  to   the   news  of  Clinton's 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


311 


two  returned  with  the  flag,  and  brought  accounts 
that  General  Gates  seemed  almost  willing  to  come 
into  our  terms ;  but  soon  after  a  report  circulated 
that  General  Clinton  was  coming  up  the  river,  tho 
at  a  great  distance,  which  Burgoyne  eagerly  catched 
at,  and  to  make  it  stronger,  Gates  so  easily  comply- 
ing with  our  proposals  confirmed  it  to  him  ;  on  which 
he  expressed  his  desire  to  withdraw  the  treaty  if 
possible,  but  luckily  for  the  army,  he  was  overruled 

advance,  before  alluded  to,  Burgoyne  desired  to  break  the 
agreement,  which  only  required  the  signatures  of  the  party 
to  complete  it.  The  next  day  Gates,  finding  that  Burgoyne 
was  delaying  to  complete  the  agreement,  finally  gave  him 
two  hours  to  decide  in,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time  hos- 
tilities were  to  recommence.  Says  Wilkinson :  **  The  two 
hours  had  elapsed  by  a  quarter,  and  an  aid-de-camp  from  the 
general  had  been  with  me  to  know  how  matters  progressed. 
Soon  after  I  perceived  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sutherland  oppo- 
site to  me  and  beckoned  him  to  cross  the  creek  ;  on  approach- 
ing me  he  observed  :  '  Well,  our  business  will  be  knocked 
in  the  head  after  all.'  I  enquired  why?  He  said:  'The 
officers  had  got  the  devil  in  their  heads  and  could  not  agree.' 
I  replied  gaily :  *  I  am  sorry  for  it,  as  you  will  not  only  lose 
your  fusee*  but  your  whole  baggage.'  He  expressed  much 
sorrow,  but  said  he  could  not  help  it.  At  this  moment  I 
recollected  the  letter  Captain  Craig  had  written  me  the  night 
before  and  taking  it  from  my  pocket  I  read  it  to  the  colonel, 
who  declared  he  had  not  been  privy  to  it ;  and  added,  with 
evident  anxiety :  '  Will  you  give  me  that  letter  ? '  I 
answered  in  the  negative,  and  observed :  *  I  should  hold  it 
as  a  testimony  of  the  good  faith  of  a  British  commander.' 
He  hastily  replied :  '  Spare  me  that  letter,  sir,  and  I  pledge 
you  my  honour  I  will  return  it  in  fifteen  minutes.'  I  pene- 
trated the  motive  and  willingly  handed  it  to  him  ;  he  sprang 
off  with  it,  and  directing  his  course  to  the  British  camp,  ran 

*  Which  he  had  owned  thirty-five  years  and  had  desired  me  to  except  from  the  surren- 
dered arms  and  save  for  him  as  she  was  a  favorite  piece. 


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312 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journau 


in  opinion,  as  the  report  of  Clinton  was  entirely 
groundless,  and  we  had  then  but  two  days  provisions. 
In  the  morning  our  money  chest  was  distributed 
among  the  army :  still,  the  general  delayed  signing 
the  treaty  and  nothing  was  done  ;  cannonading  and 
small  arms  commenced  afresh,  upon  the  report  of 
the  treaty  being  broke  up,  but  after  many  flags  pass- 
ing and  repassing,  the  terms  were  at  last  mutually 
agreed  to,  and  to  be  signed  that  evening  by  both 
generals  viz. — 

Articles  of  Convention""  between  Lieut  General 

BURGOYNE  AND  MaJOR  GeNERAL  GaTES. 

I.  The  troops  under  Lieutenant  General  Burgoyne 
to  march  out  of  their  camp  with  the  honours  of  war, 

as  far  as  I  could  see  him.  In  the  meantime  I  received  a 
peremptory  message  from  the  general  to  break  off  the  treaty 
if  the  convention  was  not  immediately  ratified.  I  informed 
him  by  the  messenger  that  I  was  doing  the  best  I  could  for 
him  and  would  see  him  in  half  an  hour.  Colonel  Suther- 
land was  punctual  to  his  promise  and  returned  with  Captain 
Craig,  who  delivered  me  the  convention  signed  by  General 
Burgoyne.  I  then  returned  to  head-quarters,  after  eight 
hours'  absence,  and  presented  to  General  Gates  the  import- 
ant document  that  made  the  British  army  conventional  pris- 
oners to  the  United  States."  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sutherland 
returned  to  England  on  parole  several  months  after  the  sur- 
render, and  died  there  July  18,  1781.  Vide  British  Army 
Lists,  in  loco ;  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  p.  316,  et 
seq.;  Historical  Record  of  the  Twenty-first  Foot,  p.  25,  et 
seq.;  Burgoyne's  Orderly  Book,  p.  17. 

^  This  document  was  originally  headed  Articles  of  Capitu- 
lation, but  the  word  capitulation  was  objected  to  by  Bur- 
goyne and  convention  substituted  therefor,  to  save  in  some 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


313 


and  the  Artillery  out  of  the  entrenchments  to  the 
verge  of  the  river,  where  the  old  fort  stood,  where 
the  arms  and  artillery  are  to  be  left  —  the  arms  to  be 
piled  by  word  of  command  by  their  own  ofificers. 

2.  A  free  passage  to  be  granted  to  the  army  under 
Lieut  Gen  Burgoyne  to  Great  Britain,  on  condition 

measure  his  wounded  pride.  This  occasioned  a  laugh  among 
some  of  his  critics,  as  it  was  so  much  in  accord  with  the  acts 
of  those  at  this  time  in  authority,  who  in  all  their  doings 
laid  great  stress  upon  preservin'^  the  national  dignity.  The 
following,  among  many  of  a  iiKe  strain,  written  after  the 
surrender,  and  printed  in  a  L'  idon  journal,  well  illustrates 
the  manner  in  which  the  oppo  »tnts  of  the  government  viewed 
the  course  of  those  who  we>  ,  managing  the  war: 


"E'lIQUETTE." 

What  though  America  doth  pour 
Her  millions  to  Britannia's  store, 
(Quoth  Grenville)  that  won't  do  ;  for  yet, 
Though  it  risk  all  and  nothing  get, 
Taxation  is  the  etiquette. 

The  tea  destroy'd  ;  the  offer  made, 
That  all  the  loss  should  be  repaid  ; 
North  asks  not  justice,  nor  the  debt, 
But  he  must  have  the  etiquette. 

At  Bunker's  Hill  the  cause  was  tried  ; 
The  earth  with  British  blood  was  dy'd  ; 
Our  army,  though  'twas  soundly  beat 
(We  hear)  bore  off  the  etiquette. 

The  bond  dissolv'd,  the  people  rose  ; 
Their  rulers  from  themselves  they  chose  , 
Their  Confess  then  at  nought  was  set ; 
Its  name  was  not  the  etiquette. 

Though  'twere  to  stop  the  tide  of  blood. 
Their  titles  must  not  be  allow'd  — 
(Not  to  the  chiefs  of  armies  met,) 
"  One"  Arnold  was  the  etiquette. 

The  Yankees  at  Long  Island  found 
That  they  were  nearly  run  aground  ; 
Howe  let  them  'scape  when  so  beset-- 
He  will  explain  that  etiquette. 

40 


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314 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal 


of  not  serving  again  in  North  America  during  the 
present  contest ;  and  the  port  of  Boston  is  assigned 
for  the  entry  of  transports  to  receive  the  troops 
whenever  general  How  shall  so  order. 

3  Should  any  chartel  take  place  by  which  the  army 
under  Lieut  Gen  Burgoyne,  or  any  part  of  it  may  be 
exchanged,  the  foregoing  article  to  be  void,  as  far  as 
such  exchange  shall  be  made. 

4.  The  army  under  Lieut  general  Burgoyne  to 
march  to  Massachusets  bay  by  the  easiest,  most 
convenient  and  expeditious  route,  and  to  be  quar- 
tered in,  near,  or  as  convenient  as  possible  to  Boston, 

His  aides-de-camp  to  Britain  boast 
Of  battles  Yankee  never  lost ; 
But  they  are  won  in  the  Gazette  — 
That  saves  the  nation's  etiquette. 

Clinton,  his  injured  honour  saw  ; 
Swore  he'd  be  tried  by  martial  law, 
And  kick  Germaine  whene'er  they  met  ; 
A  riband  saved  that  etiquette. 

Though  records  speak  Germaine's  disgrace, 
To  quote  them  to  him  face  to  face, 
(The  Commons  now  are  si  konnete,) 
They  voted  not  the  etiquette. 

Of  Saratoga's  dreadful  plain  — 
An  army  ruin'd  —  why  complain  ? 
To  pile  their  arms  as  they  were  let, 
Sure  they  came  off  with  etiquette. 

Cries  Burgoyne,  '  They  may  be  reliev'd  ; 

That  army  still  may  be  retriev'd,  • 

To  see  the  King,  if  I  be  let,' 

*  No  Sir  !    'Tis  not  the  etiquette.' 

God  save  the  King  !   and  should  he  choose 
His  people's  confidence  to  lose. 
What  matters  it  ?    They'll  not  forget 
To  serve  him  still  through  etiquette. 

Vide  Journal  of  the  Reign  of  George  the  Third  (Walpole), 
London,  1859,  vol.  2,  p.  275,  et  seq. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Joztrnal. 


315 


that  the  march  of  the  troops  may  not  be  delayed, 
when  transports  arrive  to  receive  them. 

5  The  troops  to  be  supplied  on  their  march  and 
during  their  being  in  quarters,  with  provisions  by 
general  Gates'  orders  ;  at  the  same  rate  of  rations  as 
the  troops  of  his  own  army ;  and  if  possible,  the 
officer's  horses  and  cattle  to  be  supplied  with  forage 
at  the  usual  rate. 

6  All  officers  to  retain  their  carriages,  batt  horses 
and  other  cattle,  and  no  baggage  to  be  molested 
or  searched  —  Lieut  General  Burgoyne  giving  his 
honour  that  there  are  no  public  stores  secreted 
therein  :  major  general  Gates  will  of  course  take  the 
necessary  measures  for  the  due  performance  of  this 
article.  Should  any  carriages  be  wanted  during  the 
march  for  the  transportation  of  officer's  baggage, 
they  are,  if  possible,  to  be  supplied  by  the  country 
at  the  usual  rates. 

7  Upon  the  march  and  during  the  time  the  army 
shall  remain  in  quarters  in  the  Massachusets  Bay, 
the  officers  are  not,  as  far  as  circumstances  will  admit, 
to  be  separated  from  their  men  ;  the  officers  to  be 
quartered  according  to  their  rank,  and  are  not  to  be 
hindered  from  assembling  their  men  for  roll  calling 
and  other  necessary  purposes  of  regularity. 

8  All  corps  whatever  of  General  Burgoyne's  army, 
whether  composed  of  sailor's,  battow-men,  artificers, 
drivers,  independent  companies  and  followers  of  the 
army  of  whatever  country,  shall  be  included  in  the 
fullest  sense  and  utmost  extent  of  the  above  articles. 


mn" 


Yifin 


316 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


and  comprehended  ^n  every  respect  as  British  sub- 
jects. 

9.  All  Canadians  and  persons  belonging  to  the 
Canadian  establishment,  consisting  of  sailors,  battow 
men,  artificers,  drivers.  Independent  companies  and 
any  other  followers  of  the  army,  who  come  under  no 
particular  description,  are  to  be  permitted  to  return 
there ;  they  are  to  be  conducted  immediately  by  the 
shortest  route  to  the  first  British  post  on  Lake  George, 
and  are  to  be  supplied  with  provisions  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  other  troops,  and  are  to  be  bound  by 
the  same  condition  of  not  serving  during  the  present 
contest  in  North  America. 

10.  Passports  to  be  immediately  granted  for  three 
officers  not  exceeding  the  rank  of  captains,  who  shall 
be  appointed  by  Lieut  Gen  Burgoyne  to  carry  dis- 
patches to  Sir  Willm  Howe,  Sir  Guy  Carlton  and  to 
Great  Britain  by  the  way  of  New  York  ;  and  Major 
Gen  Gates  engages  the  public  faith  that  these  dis- 
patches shall  not  be  opened.  These  officers  are  to 
set  out  immediately  after  receiving  their  dispatches, 
and  are  to  travel  the  shortest  route  and  in  the  most 
expeditious  manner. 

1 1  During  the  stay  of  the  troops  in  Massachusets 
Bay,  the  officers  are  to  be  admitted  on  Parole,  and 
are  to  be  permitted  to  wear  their  side  arms. 

1 2  Should  the  army  under  Lieut  General  Burgoyne 
find  it  necessary  to  send  for  their  clothing  and  other 
baggage  to  Canada,  they  are  to  be  permitted  to  do 


'^  -tIL 


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i  i 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


317 


it  in  the  most  convenient  manner,  and  the  necessary 
passports  granted  for  that  purpose. 

13  These  articles  are  to  be  mutually  signed  and  ex- 
changed tomorrow  morning  at  nine  of  the  clock,  and 
the  troops  under  Lieut  Gen.  Burgoyne  are  to  march 
out  of  their  entrenchments  at  3  o  clock  this  afternoon. 

Camp  at  Saratoga,  16'^  October  1777 

Signed   -        Jl  try'^^:^^^ 


Major  General. 
In  place  of  marching  from  our  encampment  that 
evening  as  expressed  in  the  convention,  it  was  de- 
ferred till  the  next  morning.  In  the  mean  time,  we 
made  preparations  for  so  long  a  march  —  about  200 
miles  —  and  the  wet,  rainy  season  just  coming  on.  I 
had  not  destroyed  all  my  baggage,  tho'  indeed  most 
of  it  was  gone  at  the  general  conflagration  ;  but  as 
to  the  horses  who  outlived  our  late  scene  of  every 
imaginable  distress,  they  exhibited  a  most  wretched 
picture  of  poverty  and  want,  made  up  of  nothing  but 
skin  and  bone,  and  it  may  naturally  be  supposed, 
rather  unfit  for  such  a  journey. 

n   A    day   famous    in   the   annals   of 

America  J'''^ 

Gen  Burgoyne  desired  a  meeting  of  all  the  officers 

early  that  morning,  at  which  he  entered  into  a  detail 

^^'  Verily,  as  Digby  remarks,  the  seventeenth  of  October 
was  a  day  memorable  in  the  annals  of  America ;   for  the 


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Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


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of  his  manner  of  acting  since  he  had  the  honour 
of  commanding  the  army  ;  but  he  was  too  full  to 
speak ;   heaven   only  could  tell   his  feelings   at  the 

surrender  of  Burgoyne's  army  has  been  regarded  by  his- 
torians from  that  day  to  this  as  the  turning  point  in  that 
conflict  which  freed  a  people  from  thraldom  to  aristocracy 
and  made  possible  a  true  republic.  Under  date  of  Decem- 
ber 2,  1777,  Walpole  says  :  "  At  night  came  an  express  from 
General  Carleton,  informing  that  he  had  learnt  by  deserters, 
and  believed,  that  the  Provincials  had  taken  Burgoyne  and 
his  whole  army  prisoners.  The  King  fell  into  agonies  on 
hearing  this  account,  but  the  next  morning,  at  his  levee  to 
disguise  his  concern,  affected  to  laugh  and  to  be  so  inde- 
cendy  merry,  that  Lord  North  endeavoured  to  stop  him  ;'' 
and  under  date  of  the  fifteenth,  thirteen  days  later,  he  records 
the  reception  of  the  official  account  from  the  hands  of  Cap- 
tain Craig.  Upon  this  a  public  fast  was  appointed,  which 
stirred  up  the  wits  all  over  the  kingdom.  As  an  example 
Walpole  gives  us  the  following  effusion  upon  the  several 
generals  who  conducted  the  war  in  America : 

"  First  General  Gage  commenced  the  war  in  vain  ; 
Next  General  Howe  continued  the  campaign, 
Then  General  Burgoyne  took  the  field,  and  last, 
Our  forlorn  hope  depends  on  General  Fast." 

Walpole  also  wrote,  under  date  of  February  27,  1778: 
"  The  Fast  was  observed  —  a  ridiculous  solemnity,  as  the 
nation  was  to  beg  a  blessing  on  their  arms,  when  the  war 
was  at  an  end,  or  at  least  suspended  for  sixteen  months 
if  the  Americans  pleased." 

The  following  was  a 

"REFLECTION  ON  THE  FAST." 

Psalm  xxvi,  v.  6. 

"  With  cj^el  hearts  and  bloody  hands. 
The  Ministry  were  stain'd, 
A  Fast  was  publish'd  thro'  these  lands 
That  they  might  all  be  clean'd, 
But,  oh  !  what  blunders,  time  affords, 
Thro*  want  of  grace  and  sense, 
,  They  wash'd  them  in  —  a  form  of  words 

Instead  of  Innocence." 


,'  i 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


319 


time.  He  dwelled  much  on  his  orders  to  make  the 
wished  for  junction  with  General  Clinton,  and  as  to 
how  his  proceedings  had  turned  out,  we  must  (he 
said),  be  as  good  judges  as  himself.  He  then  read 
over  the  Articles  of  Convention,  and  informed  us  the 
terms  were  even  easier  than  we  could  have  expected 
from  our  situation,  and  concluded  with  assuring  us, 
he  never  would  have  accepted  any  terms,  had  we 
provisions  enough,  or  the  least  hopes  of  our  extricat- 
ing ourselves  any  other  way.  About  10  o'clock,  we 
marched  out,  according  to  treaty,  with  drums  beat- 
ing &  the  honours  of  war,  but  the  drums  seemed  to 

The  London  Morning  Post  had  the  following : 

"OUR  COMMANDERS 

Nov.  2,  '77. 
Gage  nothing  did  and  went  to  pot  ; 
Howe  lost  one  town  and  other  got  ; 
Guy  nothing  lost  and  nothing  won, 
Dunmore  was  homeward  forced  to  run, 
Clinton  was  beat,  and  got  a  garter. 
And  bouncing   Burgoyne  catch'd  a  Tartar, 
Thus  all  we  gain  for  millions  spent 
Is  to  be  laughed  at,  and  repent." 

But  the  following  reads  almost  like  an  American  pro- 
duction.    It  is  entitled : 

"THE  HALCYON  DAYS  OF  OLD  ENGLAND.     A  BALLAD. 

What  honours  were  gaining  by  taking  their  forts, 
Destroying  batteaux  and  blocking  up  ports  ; 
Burgoyne  would  have  worked  them  —  but  for  a  mishap, 
By  Gates  and  one  Arnold  he's  caught  in  a  trap. 

Sing  tantarara,  etc. 

But  Howe  was  more  cautious  and  prudent  by  far, 

He  sailed  with  his  fleet  up  the  great  Delaware. 

All  summer  he  struggled  and  strove  to  undo  them 

But  the  plague  of  it  was  that  he  could  not  get  to  them." 

Vide  Journal  of  the  Reign  of  George  the  Third,  vol.  2, 
pp.  76,  170,  186,  214,  et passim. 


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320 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


have  lost  their  former  Inspiriting  sounds,  and  though 
we  beat  the  Grenadiers  march,  which  not  long 
before  was  so  animating,  yet  then  it  seemed  by  its 
last  feeble  effort,  as  if  almost  ashamed  to  be  heard 
on  such  an  occasion.  As  to  my  own  feelings,  I  can- 
not express  them.  Tears  (though  unmanly)  forced 
their  way,  and  if  alone,  I  could  have  burst  to  give 
myself  vent.  I  never  shall  forget  the  appearance  of 
their  troops  on  our  marching  past  them  ;  a  dead 
silence  universally  reigned  through  their  numerous 
columns,  and  even  then,  they  seemed  struck  with  our 
situation  and  dare  scarce  lift  up  their  eyes  to  view 
British  Troops  in  such  a  situation.  I  must  say  their 
decent  behaviour  during  the  time,  (to  us  so  greatly 
fallen)  meritted  the  utmost  approbation  and  praise."*" 
The  meeting  between  Burgoyne  and  Gates  was  well 

"^  Walpole  sarcastically  observes,  while  reflectmgupon  the 
surrender  and  the  word  "  dictated,"  as  applied  to  its  terms 
by  Burgoyne:  **  The  terms  were  singularly  gentle  and  the 
Provincials,  while  the  prisoners  deposited  their  arms,  kept 
out  of  sight,  not  to  insult  their  disgrace."  The  grief  of  the 
British  soldiers  was  as  profound  as  the  joy  of  the  Americans. 
Every  rhymester  in  the  land  was  ready  to  join  in  the  chorus, 
no  matter  how  rough  his  voice  might  be,  and  many  of  the 
strains  sound  strangely  to  modern  ears.  As  an  example,  we 
quote  from  a  volume  of  the  poems  of  Rev.  Wheeler  Case, 
printed  in  1778,  and  thought  worthy  of  a  reprint  in  1852  : 

"  The  hero  Gates  appears  in  sight, 
His  troops  are  clothed  in  armor  bright; 
They  all  as  one  their  hanners  spread, 
With  Death  or  Victory  on  their  head. 

"O  horrid  place!  Oh  dreadful  gloom! 
I  mourn  for  want  of  elbow  room, 
My  tawny  soldiers  from  me  fled, 
Have  now  returned  to  scalp  my  head." 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


321 


worth  seeing.  He  paid  Burgoyne  almost  as  much 
respect  as  if  he  was  the  conqueror,  indeed,  his  noble 
air,  tho  prisoner,  seemed  to  command  attention  and 
respect  from  every  person.  A  party  of  Light  dragoons 
were  ordered  as  his  guard,  rather  to  protect  his  per- 
son from  insults  than  any  other  cause.  Thus  ended 
all  our  hopes  of  victory,  honour,  glory  ^"^  &''  &^ 
Thus  was  Burgoyne's  Army  sacrificed  to  either  the 
absurd  opinions  of  a  blundering  ministerial  power  ; 
the  stupid  inaction  of  a  general,  who,  from  his 
lethargic  disposition,  neglected  every  step  he  might 
have  taken  to  assist  their    operations,"^   or   lastly, 

^^^  The  failure  of  General  Howe  to  co-operate  with  Bur- 
goyne excited  widespread  astonishment  and  made  him,  as 
well  as  his  brother,  the  earl,  very  unpopular,  as  will  be  seen 
from  the  following  letter  written  from  New  York  to  England, 
December  10,  1777:  "  If  you  was  in  this  town  you  would 
be  surprised  to  find  the  Howes  so  unpopular ;  they  have 
been  so  here  all  this  campaign.  The  total  loss  of  General 
Burgoyne's  army  can  only  be  imputed  to  them. — To  possess 
the  lakes  and  the  North  river,  and  by  that  means  to  sepa- 
rate the  northern  and  southern  colony,  seems  to  have  been 
the  expectation  of  the  King,  Ministers,  Parliament  and  Na- 
tion. Had  General  Howe  gone  up  the  North  River,  instead 
of  acting  to  the  southward  that  line  of  separation  would 
have  been  formed  in  July.  General  Burgoyne's  army  would 
have  been  saved,  and  both  armies,  conjunctly  or  separately, 
might  have  acted  against  New  England,  which  would  have 
been  striking  at  the  heart  of  the  rebellion. — General  Howe, 
in  his  retreat  from  the  Jerseys,  in  his  embarkation,  in  his 
stay  aboard  the  transports  before  he  sailed,  in  his  voyage  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Delaware,  where  he  played  at  bopeep  with 
the  rebels,  and  in  his  circumbendibus  to  Chesapeak  Bay, 
expended  nearly  three  months  of  the  finest  time  of  the  cam- 
paign; and  all  this  to  go  out  of  his  way,  to  desert  his  real 
business,  and  to  leave  Burgoyne  with  6,000  regulars  to  fall  a 

41 


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Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


perhaps,  his  own  misconduct  in  penetrating  so  far, 
as  to  be  unable  to  return,  and  tho  I  must  own  my 

sacrifice."  On  his  return  to  England  he  was  assailed  on 
every  side  and  endeavored  to  meet  his  critics  by  a  defense 
in  which  he  asserted  that  he  had  received  no  positive  orders 
to  co-operate  with  Hurgoyne.  This,  however,  was  not 
deemed  sufficient,  but  it  is  now  known,  that  by  the  careless- 
ness of  Lord  George  Germaine,  the  minister  of  George  the 
Third,  for  American  affairs,  the  orders  intended  for  Howe 
were  no  forwarded  to  him,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  follow- 
ing, taken  from  the  Life  of  the  Earl  of  Shelburne :  "  The  incon- 
sistent orders  given  to  Generals  Howe  and  Burgoyne,  could 
not  be  accounted  for  except  in  a  way  which  i^  must  be  diffi- 
cult for  any  person  who  is  not  conversant  with  the  negli- 
gence of  office  to  comprehend.  Among  many  singularities, 
he  had  a  particular  aversion  to  being  put  out  of  his  way  on 
any  occasion  ;  he  had  fixed  to  go  into  Kent  or  Northamp- 
tonshire at  a  particular  hour,  and  to  call  onhis  way  at  his  office 
to  sign  the  despatches,  all  of  which  had  been  settled,  to  both 
these  Generals.  By  some  mistake,  those  to  General  Howe 
were  not  fair  copied,  and  upon  his  growing  impatient  at  it, 
the  office,  which  was  a  very  idle  one,  promised  to  send  it  to 
the  country  after  him,  while  they  dispatched  the  others  to 
General  Burgoyne,  expecting  that  the  others  could  be  expe- 
dited before  the  packet  sailed  with  the  first,  which,  however, 
by  some  mistake  sailed  without  them,  and  the  wind  detained 
the  vessel  which  was  ordered  to  carry  the  rest.  Hence  came 
General  Burgoyne's  defeat,  the  French  declaration  and  the 
loss  of  thirteen  colonies.  It  might  appear  incredible  if  our 
own  Secretary  and  the  most  respectable  persons  in  office  had 
not  assured  me  of  the  fact  ;  what  corroborates  it  is  that  it 
could  be  accounted  for  in  no  other  way.  It  requires  as 
much  experience  in  business  to  comprehend  the  very  trifling 
causes  which  have  produced  the  greatest  events,  as  it  does 
strength  of  reason  to  develope  the  design."  Vide  A  View 
of  the  Evidence  relating  to  the  conduct  cf  the  American 
War  under  Sir  William  Howe,  Lord  Viscount  Howe  and 
General  Burgoyne,  London,  1779,  p.  82,  et  seq. ;  Life  of 
William,  Earl  of  Shelburne,  vol.  i,  p.  358,  et  seq. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


323 


partiality  to  him  is  great,  yet  if  he  or  the  army 
under  his  command  are  guilty,  let  them  suffer  to  the 
utmost  extent,  and  by  an  unlimited  punishment,  in 
part  blot  out  and  erase  if  possible,  the  crime  charged 
to  their  account. 

No  doubt  the  reader  has  seen  general  Burgoyne's 
letter  dated  Albany  20^^'  October  1777  to  Lord 
George  Germain,  in  which  he  gives  the  fullest  ac- 
count of  the  army  under  his  command,  being  re- 
duced so  much  by  repeated  distresses  and  unsuc- 
cessful attempts  to  enter  into  a  convention  with 
Major  General  Gates  commanding  the  Continental 
army  on  the  17"'  October  at  Saratoga.  He  there 
gives  his  reasons  for  acting  on  every  occasion  in  the 
most  particular  manner,  which  I  hope,  and  sincerely 
wish,  will  fully  acquit  him  to  the  world  of  any 
censure  the  misfortunes  of  his  army  might  (as  man- 
kind in  general  are  apt  to  condemn  the  unsuccessful) 
throw  on  him.  The  reader  may  also,  with  the 
greatest  show  of  reason,  imagine  it  a  presumption 
in  me  not  to  copy  his  journal  for  that  time  and  de- 
stroy my  own,  admitting  of  a  comparison  little  in  my 
favour ;  but  let  him  recollect  my  first  design  in  put- 
ting the  above  passages  to  paper,  it  was  as  ex[  "essed 
in  my  preface,  for  the  eye  of  a  friend  who,  I  flattered 
myself, —  for  we  arc  by  nature  vain, —  would  receive 
as  much  satisfaction  from  the  manner  I  have  ex- 
pressed my  thoughts  and  feelings  at  the  different 
times,  of  materia,  changes  and  alterations  in  our 
affairs,  (and  there  has  been  many)  as  the  bare  recital 


w 


!r'i 


Ba>i«n 


ii 


■  ,        > 
,  1        i 


! 


I  if 

,-  *■  .■ 


iiii 


324 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


of  facts,  which  are  so  well  known  at  present  to  the 
world. 

Return  of  the  Killed  and  wounded  &  prisoners 
during  the  campaign  1 777. 

Return  of  the  Killed,  wounded  and  prisoners  of  the 
•    British  troops  under  the  Command  of  his  excellency 
Lieut.  General  Burgoyne  in  the  course  of  the  Cam- 
paign  lyjj  —  (I    have  not   attempted   to  correct 
errors  in  this  table  — J.  P.  B.) 


RANK  IN  THE  ARMY 


CASUALTIES. 


British  line  six  Regiments . 


Eight  Companies  of  light  In- 
fantry and  Orenadiers  belong- 
ing to  the  Regiments  left  to 
garrison  Canada  and  its  fron-  j 
tiers ^ j 

Royall  regiment  of  Artillery 

Detachment  of  33rd  regiment ... 

Engineers 

16  Dragoons 

Foot  guards 


Officers 


M 


Sergeants 


\A 


Drummers 


u; 


Rank  <Sc  file 


47 
»> 
83 
59 
13 
129 

38 
7 

45 
11 

32 
9 
0 
0 
0 


67 
78 
65 
50 
20 
139 

1 

4 

4 

U 

21 
9 
0 
0 
0 


(S3 

H 


167 
209 
201 
198 
.55 
374 

56 
13 
79 
34 

85 

19 

1 

1 

1 


Total  Killed  wounded  and  prisoners., 


1429 


British  officers   killed,  wounded  and  prisoners 
DURING  the  Campaign  1777 

Royal  regiment   of  Artillery. 
Killed,  Captain  Jones"'^  &  2^  Lieut.  Clieland."^ 

2^  Thomas  Jones  entered  the  Military  Academy  at  Wool- 
wich as  a  cadet,  March  18,  1755,  and,  on  December  twenty- 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


325 


Wounded.  Captains  Bloomfield,'^^  Green,  31^*  regt 
—  aid-de-camp,  to  Major  Gen  Phillips — Lieutenants 
Howarth,''^  Smith,"^  Volunteer  Sutton."' 


seventh  following,  was  commissioned  lieutenant-fireworker  ; 
second  lieutenant  in  the  Royal  Artillery,  April  2,  1757;  first 
lieutenant,  January  i,  1759;  captain-lieutenant,  October  23, 
1 761,  and  captain,  January  i,  1771.  He  participated  in  the 
siege  of  Belleisle  in  1761,  and  embarked  for  America  in  1773. 
When  Arnold  and  Montgomery  made  their  attack  upon 
Quebec,  Captain  Jones  was  active  in  opposing  them,* and 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  campaign  of  ''j^i,  returned  with  Bur- 
goyne  to  England,  where  he  was  married  during  the  winter. 
He  returned  in  June  of  the  next  year,  and  was  killed  at  the 
battle  of  Freeman's  Farm,  September  nineteenth.  His 
intrepidity  and  ability  were  frequently  spoken  of  by  writers 
of  the  time.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  History 
Royal  Artillery,  vol.  i,  pp.  229,  304,  135;  A  State  of  the 
Expedition,  p.  79,  Appendix  49,  and  Hadden's  Journal  and 
Orderly  Books,  pp.  50,  98,  109,  164,  et  passim. 

^^^  Molesworth  Clieland  received  his  commission  of  second 
lieutenant  in  the  First  Battalion  Royal  Artillery  on  March 
15,  1771.  The  artillery  formed  a  most  important  part  of 
Burgoyne's  army,  and  owing  to  its  extent  and  the  splendor 
of  its  equipment,  caused  much  criticism  among  his  enemies, 
who  claimed  that  it  was  disproportionate  to  his  infantry. 
It  did  however  most  effective  service ;  but  owing  to  the 
nature  of  the  country,  great  labor  was  required  in  moving 
it,  and  the  men  in  charge  were  subjected  to  severe  toil  and 
hardship.  Lieutenant  Clieland  was  the  first  officer  of  the 
artillery  to  fall.  He  was  killed  at  Skenesborough  on  July 
sixth.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Journal  of  Occur- 
rences, etc.,  p.  174. 

^^  Thomas  Blomefield  entered  the  Royal  Military 
Academy  at  Woolwich  on  February  9,  1758,  before  he 
had  completed  his  fourteenth  year,  and  exhibited  such  re- 
markable talents  as  to  secure  a  commission  in  the  First 
Battalion  of  the  Royal  Artillery  as  lieutenant-fireworker  on 
January  3,  1759.     When  only  fifteen   years  of  age,  at  the 


'-^ 

mf 

f 

1 

11 

1 

! 

• 

1  '■  ■■ 

r 

m 


■:a 


326 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


Prisoners,  Major  Williams,   Lieutenants  Howarth 
and  York. '30 


bombardment  of  Havre  de  Grace  by  Admiral  Rodney,  he 
commanded  a  bomb  vessel  with  ability.  He  was  made  sec- 
ond lieutenant,  August  i,  1762,  and  participated  in  the  cap- 
ture of  Martinique  and  Havana.  He  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  first  lieutenant  in  the  Second  Battalion,  May  28, 
1766,  and  captain-lieutenant,  January  29,  1773.  Shortly 
after  his  arrival  in  Canada,  on  June  3,  1776,  he  was  made 
major  of  brigade  to  Major-General  Phillips.  He  performed 
most  important  service  in  the  construction  of  floating  bat- 
teries during  the  campaign  of  that  year,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  campaign  returned  to  England.  In  the  spring  of  1777 
he  returned  to  Canada  and  participated  in  Burgoyne's  expe- 
dition. Madame  Riedesel  thus  speaks  of  his  wound:  "One 
day  I  undertook  the  care  of  Major  Plumpfield,  adjutant  of 
General  Phillips,  through  both  of  whose  cheeks  a  small 
musket  ball  had  passed,  shattering  his  teeth  and  grazing  his 
tongue.  He  could  hold  nothing  whatever  in  his  mouth. 
The  matter  from  the  wound  almost  choked  him,  and  he  was 
unable  to  take  any  other  nourishment,  except  a  little  broth, 
or  something  liquid.  We  had  Rhine  wine.  I  gave  him  a 
bottle  of  it,  in  hopes  that  the  acidity  of  the  wine  would 
cleanse  his  wound.  He  kept  some  continually  in  his  mouth  ; 
and  that  alone  acted  so  beneficially,  that  he  became  cured, 
and  I  again  acquired  one  more  friend.  Thus  in  the  midst  of 
my  hours  of  care  and  suffering,  I  derived  a  joyful  satisfac- 
tion, which  made  me  very  happy."  He  was  among  the 
paroled  officers  at  Cambridge,  and  returned  to  England  in 
the  spring  of  1779.  His  subsequent  commissions  in  the 
Royal  Artillery  and  army  were  as  follows:  Captain,  January 
19,  1780;  raj  or  in  the  army,  March  19,  1783,  and  in  the 
artillery,  September  twenty-fifth  of  the  same  year;  a  lieu- 
tenant-colonel, December  5,  1793  ;  colonel  in  the  army,  Janu- 
ary 26,  1797,  and  in  the  artillery,  November  12,  1800;  a 
major-general,  September  25,  1803,  ^^^d  colonel  command- 
ant of  the  Ninth  Battalion,  June  i,  1806,  He  commanded 
the  artillery  at  the  siege  of  Copenhagen  with  great  suc- 
cess, for  which  he  received  the  thanks  of  Parliament  and  a 


■■--*■ 


Lieuteriant  Digbys  Journal. 


27 


Battalion  of  Light  Infantry  consisting  of  \o  Companies 
Commanded  by  Earl  Balcarres, 
(f"    Company  ;  Lieut  Wright. ^^i 
20^^  Company ; 

baronetcy,  which  honor  was  conferred  upon  him,  November 
14,  1807.  His  last  promotion  was  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant- 
general,  July  25,  1 8 10.  His  death  took  place  at  his  home 
at  Shooter's  Hill,  in  Kent,  August  24,  J822.  Vide  British 
Family  Antiquity  (Playfair),  London,  i8ii,vol.  7,  p.  833, 
et  seq. ;  Burke's  Peerage  and  Baronetage,  m  loco;  British 
Army  Lists,  in  loco;  A  State  of  the  Expedition,  p.  ^']  \ 
History  of  the  Royal  Artillery  (Duncan),  vol.  i,  pp.  174, 
^77 1  ?>79\  vol.  2,  pp.  158,  167;  Letters  and  Journals  of 
Madame  Riedesel,  p.  132. 

^^  Edward  Howarth  was  commissioned  a  second  lieuten- 
ant in  the  Royal  Artillery,  on  June  17,  1772,  and  was  one 
of  the  most  brilliant  of  that  youthful  band  of  officers  who 
accompanied  Burgoyne  to  America  in  1776.  He  was 
wounded  and  taken  prisoner  at  Saratoga  in  the  final  battle 
of^the  campaign.  Concerning  him  Anburey  relates  the  fol- 
lowing curious  incident :  "  Your  friend  Howarth's  wound,  I 
hear,  is  in  his  knee  ;  it  is  very  singular,  but  he  was  prepos- 
sessed with  an  idea  of  being  wounded,  for  when  the  orders 
came  for  the  detachment's  going  out,  he  was  playing  picquet 
with  me,  and  after  reading  the  orders,  and  that  his  brigade 

of  guns  were  to  go,  he  said  to  me,  '  God  bless  you  A , 

farewell,  for  I  know  not  how  it  is,  but  I  have  a  strange /r^- 
sentiment  that  I  shall  either  be  killed  or  wounded,'  I  was 
rather  surprised  at  such  an  expression,  as  he  is  of  a  gay  and 
cheerful  disposition,  and  cannot  but  say,  that  during  the 
little  time  I  could  bestow  in  reflection  that  day,  I  continually 
dwelt  upon  his  remark,  but  he  is  now  happily  in  a  fair  way 
of  recovery."  On  July  7,  1779,  Howarth  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  first  lieutenant  in  the  artillery,  and  on  December 
I,  1782,  of  captain-lieutenant  and  captain.  He  occupied 
the  position  of  quartermaster  for  eleven  years  ;  namely, 
from  April  4,  1783,  to  March  i,  1794,  at  which  latter  date  he 
attained  the  army  rank  of  major.     On  January  i,  1798,  he 


i 


i! 


ii^ 


Lieutenant  Digby  ^  JournaL 

21^^  Company ; 
24^''  Company ; 

was  promoted  to  the  army  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel  and 
brevet-major-general  ;  and  July  16,  1799,  was  made  a  major 
in  the  artillery.  He  was  further  promoted  to  a  lieutenant- 
colonelcy  in  the  artillery,  April  18,  1801  ;  a  colonelcy, 
December  29,  1805  ;  major-general  in  the  army,  June  4,  181 1; 
lieutenant-general  in  the  army  August  12,  1819,  and  colonel 
commanding  in  the  artillery,  August  6,  1821.  General 
Howarth  served  under  Wellington  in  the  Peninsular  war 
with  great  distinction,  commanding  the  artillery  as  brigadier- 
general  at  the  battles  of  Talavera,  Busaco  and  Ferantes 
d'Onore,  and  for  the  ability  he  displayed,  was  in  18 14,  hon- 
ored with  the  Knight  Grand  Cross  of  the  Order  of  Bath. 
In  1824,  he  was  further  rewarded  with  the  Knight  Grand- 
Cross  of  the  Royal  Hanoverian  Guelphic  Order,  a  medal 
and  two  clasps.  Owing  to  failing  health  he  was  obliged  to 
vacate  his  command,  and  retiring  to  his  country  seat  at 
Birnstead,  Surrey,  he  died  on  March  5,  1827.  He  had  been 
in  almost  constant  service  for  over  half  a  century.  Vide 
British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  History  of  the  Royal  Artil- 
lery, vol.  I,  pp.  226,  381  ;  Hadden's  Journal  and  Orderly 
Books,  pp.  xlviii,  Ivi. 

228  William  P.  Smith  became  a  cadet  in  Woolwich,  April 
I,  1768,  and  a  second  lieutenant  in  the  Royal  Artillery, 
March  15,  177 1.  He  was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  October 
7,  and  was  among  the  convention  prisoners.  He  subse- 
quently received  the  following  promotions  :  First  lieutenant, 
July  7,  1779;  captain-lieutenant,  February  28,  1782,  and 
captain  of  the  Sixth  Company  of  the  Second  Battalion,  May 
24,  1790  ;  major  in  the  army,  March  i,  1794,  and  in  the  artil- 
lery, April  25,  1796;  Heutenant-colonel  in  the  army,  January 
I,  1 798,  and  in  the  artillery,  January  8,  1799.  His  last  com- 
mission was  that  of  colonel  in  the  artillery,  July  20,  1804. 
His  death  took  place  July  23,  1806.  Vide  British  Army 
Lists,  in  loco ;  History  of  the  Royal  Artillery,  vol.  i,  p.  181. 

22»  Of  volunteer  Sutton  we  can  find  no  particulars.     He  is 
mentioned  by  Lamb  in  his  list  of  wounded  officers,  and  we 


i 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


329 


27"*  Company;  Wounded,  Capt"  Craig. 
62^  Company;  Wounded,  Lieut  Jones. '^^ 


may  infer  had  seen  military  service.  At  the  dawn  of  day 
on  the  sixth  of  July,  General  Fraser  pursued  Colonel  Fran- 
cis, and  overtaking  him,  would  have  met  with  a  disastrous 
defeat  but  for  the  timely  arrival  of  Riedescl  with  his  Ger- 
mans. Sutton  was  wounded  in  this  action.  If  he  survived 
his  wound,  he  must  have  returned  to  Canada,  as  he  is  no- 
where again  mentioned,  and  his  name  does  not  appear  among 
the  convention  prisoners. 

^^John  H.  York  became  a  cadet  at  Woolwich,  May  i, 
1768,  and  a  second  lieutenant  in  the  Royal  Artillery,  March 
15,1771.  He  was  taken  prisoner  October  seventh.  At  what 
time  he  was  exchanged  is  unknown.  He  was  promoted  as  fol- 
lows, viz. :  tc  the  rank  of  first  lieutenant,  July  7,  1779;  cap- 
tain-lieutenant, April  6,  1782,  and  captain  in  the  Third 
Company,  Fourth  Battalion,  May  26,  1790;  a  major  in  the 
army,  March  i,  1794,  and  in  the  artillery,  December  9,  1796; 
a  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  army,  January  i,  1798,  and  in  the 
artillery,  July  16,  1799.  His  last  commission  was  that  of 
colonel  in  the  artillery,  July  20,  1804,  and  he  was  shortly 
after,  November  i,  1805,  drowned  on  the  South  American 
coast.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  ht  loco ;  History  of  the 
Royal  Artillery,  vol.  i,  pp.  257,  315. 

^^^  James  Wright  received  his  first  commission  as  ensign 
in  the  Ninth  Foot,  March  23,  1764,  while  that  regiment  was 
doing  service  in  Florida.  In  1769  the  Ninth  returned  home 
and  was  assigned  to  garrison  duty  in  Ireland.  He  was  com- 
missioned a  lieutenant,  September  i,  I77i,and  accompanied 
his  regiment  to  Canada  in  1776,  taking  part  in  the  campaign 
of  that  year.  He  was  killed  in  the  final  battle  at  Saratoga. 
Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Historical  Record  Ninth 
Foot. 

"^  John  Jones  received  his  commission  of  ensign  in  the 
Sixty-second  Foot  on  December  9,  1767,  and  was  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  lieutenant,  September  i,  1771.     His  regiment 
42 


II 


1 


«'»*»<t*^^l^J«.•,■«,VJ«(«^J»ll«s.a^ 


111 


lU  s 


^!J 


11 


330 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


29^**  Company  ;  Killed, Lieut  Douglass.''"  Wounded, 
Lieut.  Battersby.''3+  Prisoner,  Ensign  Johnston.^ 
31^^  Company ; 


335 


arrived  in  Canada  in  the  spring  of  1776,  and  he,  therefore, 
took  part  in  the  campaign  of  that  year.  He  was  wounded 
at  Hubbardton  in  the  action  of  July  seventh,  and  his  name 
disappears  from  the  army  lists  after  1781.  Vide  British 
Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Historical  Record  Sixty-second  Foot. 

^'  James  Douglas  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in  the 
army  on  April  8,  1773,  and  received  his  appointment  of 
ensign  in  the  Twenty-ninth  Foot  on  June  30,  1774.  He 
was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy  in  his  regiment,  February  27, 
1776,  and  was  wounded  in  the  action  of  July  seventh.  He 
was  being  borne  from,  the  field  after  his  wound,  when  a  shot 
passed  directly  through  his  heart,  killing  him  instantly.  His 
place  was  filled  by  Ensign  Dowling  of  the  Forty-seventh 
Foot,  on  the  fourteenth,  by  order  of  the  commanding  gen- 
eral. Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Travels  Through 
the  Interior  Parts  of  America,  vol.  i,  p.  339;  Burgoyne's 
Orderly  Book,  p.  55. 

"^  James  Battersby  entered  the  Twenty-ninth  Foot,  Febru- 
ary 2,  1770,  as  an  ensign,  at  which  time  this  regiment  was 
stationed  in  Boston  and  won  unpleasant  notoriety  in  the 
"  massacre  "  of  the  fifth  of  March  following.  He  was  pro- 
moted to  a  lieutenancy,  December  16, 1773,  and  in  February, 
1776,  embarked  at  Chatham  with  his  regiment  for  the  seat 
of  war  in  America.  He  was  wounded  in  the  action  of  Octo- 
ber seventh,  and  was  one  of  the  convention  prisoners.  He 
was  promoted  to  a  captaincy,  February  16,  1778,  while  a 
prisoner.  His  name  appears  on  the  army  lists  for  the  last 
time  in  1784.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Historical 
Record  Twenty-ninth  Foot;  Journal  of  Occurrences  During 
the  Late  American  War,  p.  176. 

^  William  Johnson  was  commissioned  an  ensign  in  the 
Twenty-ninth  Foot  on  xvlarch  29,  1776.  Of  his  subsequent 
fate  we  know  nothing.  His  name  was  borne  on  the  army 
lists  of  1780  for  the  last  time. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


331 


34'**  Company ;  Wounded,  Cap"  Harris.'^^ 
53*^  Company ;  Wounded,   Major   Earl   Balcarres. 
Lieutenants  Houghton  &  CuUen.'^^ 

^  John  Adolphus  Harris  entered  the  Thirty-fourth  Foot 
under  an  ensign's  commission,  January  11,  1760,  and  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant,  January  28,  1762.  At 
this  time  the  Thirty-fourth  was  in  the  West  Indies,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Harris  participated  in  the  siege  of  Havana,  and  after 
the  peace  accompanied  his  regiment  to  Florida,  where  it 
remained  until  1768,  when  it  was  assigned  to  garrison  duty 
in  Ireland.  On  November  28,  1771,  he  was  promoted  to  a 
captaincy,  and  in  1776,  the  Thirty-fourth  having  been  as- 
signed to  duty  in  America,  he  took  part  in  the  campaign  of 
that  year.  He  was  wounded  at  Hubbardton  in  the  action 
of  July  seventh.  Anburey  thus  speaks  of  him  in  a  letter 
home,  dated  July  seventeenth:  "I  omitted  to  mention  to 

you,  that  your  old  friend  Captain  H ,  was  wounded  at 

the  battle  of  Huberton,  early  in  the  action,  when  the  grena- 
diers formed  to  support  the  light  infantry.  I  could  not  pass 
by  him  as  he  lay  under  a  tree,  where  he  had  scrambled  upon 
his  hands  and  knees,  to  protect  him  from  the  scattering  shot, 
without  going  up  to  see  what  assistance  could  be  afforded 
him,  and  learn  if  he  was  severely  wounded.  You  who  know 
his  ready  turn  for  wit,  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear,  though 
in  extreme  agony,  that  with  an  arch  look,  and  clapping  his 
hand  behind  him,  he  told  me,  if  I  wanted  to  be  satisfied,  I 
must  ask  that,  as  the  ball  had  entered  at  his  hip,  and  passed 
through  a  certain  part  adjoining ;  he  is  now  at  Ticonderoga, 
and  from  the  last  account,  is  recovering  fast."  Owing  to  the 
severity  of  his  wound,  he  was  unable  to  take  part  in  the 
subsequent  movements  of  the  campaign,  and  so  was  not 
among  the  captured  officers.  After  his  return  to  England, 
he  became  major  of  the  Eighty-fourth  Foot,  or  Royal  High- 
land Emigrants,  First  Battalion,  October  22,  1779,  and  lieu- 
tenant-colonel of  the  Sixtieth  Foot,  or  Royal  Americans, 
January  16,  1788.  He  was  afterward  commissioned  in  the 
army  as  follows:  Lieutenant-colonel,  February  26,  1795; 
major-general,  January  i,  1798;  lieutenant-general,  January 
I,  1805,  and  general,  June  4,  1814.     His  name  appears  upon 


FWP 


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332 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


2d^  Regm'.  Killed,  Lieutenants  Lucas,'^^  Cooke,'^' 
Obines-'^"  Wound.  Lieut.  CoP.  Lynd,'*'  Captains 
Wemys,'*'  Doulin,''*^  Stanley,"**  Farquar;''*^  Lieuten- 

the  army  lists  for  the  last  time  in  1826.  Vide  British  Army 
Lists,  in  loco;  Historical  Record  Thirty  fourth  Foot; 
Travels  Through  the  Interior  Parts  of  America,  vol.  i, 
p.  361,  et  seq. 

"^"^  William  Cullen  entered  the  Fifty-third  Foot  as  an  en- 
sign while  that  regiment  was  doing  garrison  duty  in  Ireland, 
August  31,1 774,  and  was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy,  March  2, 
1776,  just  before  the  departure  of  his  regiment  for  America. 
He  was  wounded  July  seventh,  in  the  action  with  the  troops 
of  Colonel  Francis,  and  probably  returned  to  Ticonderoga, 
as  he  was  not  among  the  captives  of  Burgoyne's  army. 
The  Fifty-third  Regiment  was  stationed  in  Canada  for  sev- 
eral years  after  the  close  of  the  war,  and  during  this  time 
Lieutenant  Cullen  was  commissioned  a  captain,  his  commis- 
sion bearing  date  September  13,  1781.  He  seems  to  have 
become  weary  of  his  long  sojourn  in  America  and  retired  on 
a  captain's  half  pay  in  1784.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in 
loco  ;  Historical  Record,  Fifty-third  Foot ;  Journal  of  Occur- 
rences During  the  Late  American  War,  p.  175. 

"^  Thomas  Lucas  entered  the  Twentieth  Foot  upon  the 
eve  of  its  embarkation  for  America,  having  received  his 
commission  of  lieutenant  therein,  March  i,  1776.  He  passed 
through  the  perils  of  the  campaign  of  that  year  to  meet  his 
death  in  the  battle  of  Freeman's  Farm,  September  nine- 
teenth. 

-^^  John  Cooke  entered  the  Twentieth  Foot  as  an  ensign 
while  it  was  stationed  in  Ireland,  March  14,  1774,  and  when 
his  regiment  was  about  to  proceed  to  the  relief  of  Carleton 
at  Quebec,  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant, 
March  3,  1776.  He  ended  his  brief  career  at  the  battle  of 
Freeman's  Farm,  on  September  nineteenth. 

^"  Hamlet  Obins  entered  the  British  army  as  a  cornet  in 
the  Third  Light  Dragoons,  January  i,  1766,  and  was  pro- 
moted to  2,  lieutenancy  in  the  Sixteenth  Light  Dragoons, 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


333 


ants  Dowlin,'*^  Ensig"  Connel.''*'  Prisoners ;  Stanley, 
Farquar.  Cap"  Dowlin,  Ensign  Connel. 


Burgoyne's  regiment,  February'  i8,  1769,  in  which  regiment 
he  remained  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  in  America, 
when  he  was  transferred  to  the  infantry  and  commissioned 
a  lieutenant  in  the  Twentieth  Foot,  March  9,  1776.  He  fell 
in  the  battle  of  October  seventh,  which  decided  the  fate  of 
Burgoyne's  army.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Jour- 
nal of  Occurrences  During  the  Late  American  War,  p.  176. 

^^'  John  Lind  entered  the  Thirty-fourth  Foot,  December 
12,  1755,  and  the  next  year  was  with  his  regiment  at  Fort 
St.  Phillip,  where  it  sustained  a  siege.  He  was  commissioned 
a  captain,  January  12,  1760,  and  took  part  in  the  expedition 
against  Belleisle  during  that  year.  In  1762  he  participated 
in  the  expedition  against  the  Spanish  West  Indies,  and  at 
the  successful  close  of  the  war  accompanied  his  regiment  to 
Florida,  where  he  remained  until  1768,  when  his  regiment 
was  ordered  home  and  went  into  garrison  in  Ireland.  On 
November  28,  1 771,  he  was  made  major  of  his  regiment,  and 
January  16,  1776,  was  transferred  to  the  Twentieth  Foot 
and  promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel.  In  the 
spring  of  that  year  he  accompanied  his  regiment  to  America 
and  took  part  in  the  campaign  under  Carleton.  The  next 
year  he  followed  the  fortunes  of  Burgoyne  to  the  battle  of 
Freeman's  Farm,  where  he  was  wounded,  but  remained  with 
his  command  and  was  among  the  surrendered  officers  at 
Saratoga  a  few  weeks  later.  He  was  raised  to  the  army 
rank  of  colonel,  November  20,  1782,  and  was  made  a  major- 
general,  October  12,  1793.  He  died  May  i,  1795.  Vide 
Historical  Record  of  the  Thirty-fourth  Foot ;  do.  Twen- 
tieth Foot ;  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco  ;  Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine for  1795. 

^*^  Francis  Weymis  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Twentieth  Foot,  September  26,  1757,  at  which  time  his  regi- 
ment formed  part  of  the  expedition  under  Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral Sir  John  Mordant,  against  Rochfort,  which  resulted  in 
the  capture  and  destruction  of  the  fortifications  on  the  Isle 


' 


■I 


'i'ft 


i 


Hijiil 


334 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


rSt 


21"  Regmt ;  Killed,  Lieutenants  Curray,'*^  Mc- 
Kinzy,'*'  Turnbuil'^"  Robertson.'^'  Wounded,  Lieut. 
Rutherford  ;'5»  Prisoner,  Lieut  Rutherford, 


d'Aix,  on  the  western  coast  of  France.  The  French,  \w  the 
summer  of  1759,  sent  an  army  into  Germany  with  which 
country  England  was  in  alliance,  and  the  regiment  to  w^*ch 
Lieutenant  Weymis  belonged  was  ordered  to  Germany  to 
form  part  of  the  forces  under  Prince  Ferdinand,  of  Bruns- 
wick. The  service  performed  by  the  British  troops  in  the 
German  service  was  severe,  and  when  the  Twentieth  returned 
to  England  in  1763,  it  received  the  thanks  of  Parliament  for 
its  conduct.  From  this  date  until  1769,  a  period  of  six 
years,  Lieutenant  Weymis  was  with  his  regiment  at  Gibral- 
tar. On  the  25th  of  May,  1772,  he  was  promoted  to  the 
regimental  and  army  rank  of  captain.  After  the  campaign 
in  America  of  1776,  Lieutenant  Weymis  passed  the  follow- 
ing winter  at  the  Isle  aux  Noix,  ind  was  wounded  in  the 
battle  of  the  nineteenth  of  September.  He  was  among  the 
convention  prisoners,  and  upon  his  return  home  at  the  close 
of  the  war  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major,  March  19, 
1783.  His  name  disappears  from  the  army  lists  after  1787. 
Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Historical  Record  Twen- 
tieth Foot,  pp.  15-23;  Journal  of  Occurrences  During  the 
Late  American  War,  p.  175. 

^^  Richard  Dowling  first  appears  on  the  army  lists  as 
adjutant  of  the  Twentieth  Foot,  January  8,  1768,  while 
that  regiment  was  doing  garrison  duty  at  Gibraltar,  where 
it  remained  until  1774,  when  it  proceeded  to  Ireland,  and 
was  there  stationed  until  the  spring  of  ''jd.  Adjutant  Dow- 
ling was  commissioned  a  captain  in  his  regiment,  July  7, 
1775,  and  accompa'nied  it  to  America  the  following  spring. 
He  was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  September  nineteenth, 
and  taken  prisoner,  from  which  time  he  disappears  from 
view.  His  name  continued  upon  the  army  lists  until  April 
I,  1780,  when  his  place  was  filled  by  Thomas  Storey.  Vide 
British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Historical  Record  Twentieth 
Foot,  pp.  15-23;  Journal  of  Occurrences  During  the  Late 
American  War,  p.  176. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


335 


24'''  Rcgmt :  Killed,  Lieut.  Col.  Frazier,  Major 
Grant.  Wounded,  Major  Agnew,'53  Captains  Blake,'^* 
Strangways,'"  I   eut.  Doyle.'s** 


^"  John  Stanly  entered  the  Twentieth  Foot  as  a  lieuten- 
ant, September  7,  I/72,  while  the  regiment  was  stationed  at 
Gibraltar.  He  was  promoted  to  a  captaincy  about  the  time 
of  its  departure  for  America,  March  9,  1776.  He  was 
wounded  and  taken  prisoner  at  Freeman's  Farm,  and  his 
name  appears  for  the  last  time  on  the  army  lists  in  1783. 

245  William  Farquar  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Forty-seventh  Foot,  September  25,  1759,  after  that  regi- 
ment's brilliant  service  in  the  siege  and  capture  of  Louis- 
bourg  and  the  fall  of  Quebec.  In  1763  he  entered  upon 
half  pay,  but  re-entered  the  service,  and  obtained  a  lieuten- 
ancy. May  3,  1765,  in  the  Fifty-sixth  Foot,  which  was  at 
that  time  on  duty  at  Gibraltar.  He  received  a  captain's 
commission  in  the  Twentieth  Foot,  May  13,  1776.  He  was 
wounded  and  taken  prisoner  in  the  battle  of  September 
nineteenth.  At  what  time  he  was  exchanged  we  are  not 
informed.  He  was  promoted  to  a  majority  in  the  army, 
March  19,  1783.  His  name  disappears  from  the  army  lists 
after  1794.  Vide  Historical  Record  Forty-seventh  Foot; 
do.  Fifty-sixth  Foot ;  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco. 

^^  James  Dowling  was  first  commissione  1  an  ensign  in 
the  Forty-seventh  Regiment,  June  18,  17"^,  the  day  after 
the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  in  which  the  Forty-seventh  was 
engaged.  He  accompanied  his  regiment  to  Canada  in  the 
spring  of  the  next  year.  Lieutenant  Douglass  of  the 
Twenty-ninth  Foot  having  been  killed  in  the  action  of 
July  seventh,  Burgoyne  promoted  Ensign  Dowling  to  the 
vacant  lieutenancy,  July  14,  1777.  He  was  wounded  in  the 
performance  of  his  duty,  October  seventh,  and  seems  to 
have  escaped  capture  thereby.  His  name  disappears  from 
the  army  lists  after  1787.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ; 
Burgoyne's  Orderly  Book,  p.  55;  Journal  of  Occurrences 
During  the  Late  American  War,  p.  176. 


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Lieutenaiit  Digtyi;  Journal. 


\f^  Regmt ;  Killed,  Lieut'  Reynels,'"  Harvey.'^s 
Stewart,='59  Ensigns  Taylor,'^  Phillips,'^'  Young,'^' 
Adjutant  Fitzgerald.^^^    Wounded  ;  Lieut.  Col°.  Ans- 


2*^  Morgan  Connel  was  commissioned  an  ensign  in  the 
Twentieth  Foot,  April  6,  1776.  He  was  wounded  in  the 
battle  of  October  seventh  and  taken  a  prisoner.  We  have 
no  further  account  of  him. 

^^  Samuel  Currie  received  his  first  commission  in  the  Brit- 
ish army,  which  was  that  of  a  second  lieutenant  in  the 
Twenty-first  Foot,  on  March  14,  1766.  At  this  date  his 
regiment  was  stationed  in  Western  Florida,  and  remained 
there  until  1770,  when  it  was  ordered  to  Canada,  and,  on 
February  21,  1772,  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  first 
lieutenant.  Shortly  after  he  retu^'icd  to  England,  where 
the  Twenty-first  was  in  garrison  uniil  the  spring  of  '^6,  when 
Lieutenant  Currie  accompanied  it  to  Quebec,  and  shortly 
after  his  arrival  in  Canada,  viz.,  on  July  4,  1776,  he  received 
the  appointment  of  assistant  commissary  of  General  Gor- 
don's brigade.  He  lost  his  life  in  the  battle  of  September 
nineteenth.  Vide  British  A. my  Lists,  in  loco;  Historical 
Record  Twenty-first  Foot;  Journal  of  Occurrences  During 
the  Late  American  War,  p.  175. 

^*^  Kenneth  Mackenzie  entered  the  British  military  service 
as  an  ensign  in  the  Thirty-third  Foot,  August  26,  1767,  and 
was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy,  February  27,  1771.  On 
August  16.  1775,  he  was  transferred  to  the  Twenty- first 
Foot,  and  the  following  spring  accompanied  his  regiment 
to  America.  He  was  made  a  first  lieutenant  on  May  7,  1776, 
and  participated  in  the  campaign  of  that  year.  He  ended 
his  life  in  the  performance  of  a  soldier's  duty  on  the  battle- 
field of  September  nineteenth.  Vide  British  Army  Lists, 
in  loco;  Historical  Record  Thirty-third  Foot;  Journal  of 
Occurrences  During  the  Late  American  War,  p.  175. 

2*"  George  TurnbuU  received  his  con  mission  of  second 
lieutenant  in  the  Twenty-first  Foot  on  May  3,  1776,  and  was 
probably  one  of  those  youthful  officers,  of  which  there  were 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


337 


truther,'^*  Major  Harnage,'^^  Captain  Bunbury,'^^ 
Ensigns,  Blackee,''^^  Harvey. ""^^  Prisoners :  Lieut. 
Naylor,^'^^  Ensign  De  Antroch.^^" 

so  many  in  Burgoyne's  army,  who  lost  their  Hves  in  the  dis- 
astrous campaign  of  1777.  He  was  killed  October  seventh 
near  Stillwater. 

^^'  John  James  Roberton  entered  the  British  army  as  a 
second  lieutenant  of  Royal  Engineers,  July  13,  1774.  He 
was  attached  to  the  right  wing  of  the  army  by  an  order  of 
June  27,  1777,  his  duty  being  to  strengthen  the  right  of  the 
camp  under  the  direction  of  Brigadiers  Powell  and  Hamil- 
ton. The  last  mention  made  of  him  in  Burgoyne's  Orderly 
Book  is  on  September  seventh,  Avhen  he  was  assigned  to  the 
duty  of  repairing  the  roads  between  the  camp  at  Duer's 
House  and  Fort  Edward.    On  the  nineteenth  he  was  killed. 

^^^  Richard  Rutherford  entered  the  Twenty-first  Foot  as  a 
second  lieutenant,  February  26,  1776.  He  was  wounded  in 
the  battle  of  September  nineteenth,  and  as  his  name  is 
dropped  from  the  army  list  of  1779,  we  may  infer  that  he 
did  not  recover  from  his  wounds. 

253  William  Agnew  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Twenty-fourth  Foot,  September  3,  1756,  and  a  captain-lieu- 
tenant, May  15,  1763.  Having  served  in  Germany,  his  regi- 
mer"-  was  transferred  to  Gibraltar,  arid  he  subsequently 
accompanied  't  to  America  in  the  spring  of  1776.  He  was 
made  major  of  the  Twenty-fourth,  July  14,  1777,  in  place 
of  Major  Grant,  who  was  killed  on  the  seventh  of  that 
month.  He  was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Freeman's  Farm, 
September  nineteenth.  He  became  lieutenant-colonel  of 
his  regiment,  February  15,  1782,  but  his  name  is  not  borne 
upon  the  lists  of  the  next  year.  Vide  British  Army  Lists, 
id  loco ;  Historical  Record  Twenty-fourth  Foot;  Journal  of 
Occurrences  Dui'ng  the  Late  American  War,  p.  175. 

2'^  John  Blake  was  made  an  ensign  of  the  Twenty-fourth 
Foot,  May  23,  1761,  and  lieutenant,  June  12,  1766.  He 
was   promoted    to   a   captaincy,   July   7,    1775.      He   was 

43 


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33^ 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


Engineers,  Prisoner,  Lieut.  Dunford.'^' 
Foot  Guards  :  Killed,  Sir   Francis  Clark,   aid-de- 
camp to  General  Burgoyne, 

wounded  in  the  battle  of  the  nineteenth  of  September, 
and  did  not  rejoin  his  regiment,  as  his  name  is  not  in  the 
list  of  surrendered  officers.  He  appears  at  the  head  of  the 
list  of  captains  on  the  list  of  1788.  Vide  British  Army  Lists, 
i7i  loco ;  Historical  Record  Twenty-fourth  Foot. 

"^^  Hon.  Stephen  Digby  Strangways  was  the  second  son 
of  Stephen  Fox  and  Elizabeth,  the  only  daughter  and  heir 
of  Thomas  Strangways  Horner,  Esq.  His  father  was  raised 
to  the  peerage,  March  11,  1741,  as  Lord  Ilchester,  of  Ilches- 
ter,  in  Somersetshire,  and  subsequently,  on  June  5,  1756, 
was  made  Earl  of  Ilchester.  Stephen  Digby  Strangways 
was  born  on  December  3,  1751,  and  was  the  brother  of  Lady 
Harriet  Acland.  He  entered  the  British  military  service  as 
a  cornet  in  the  Royal  Irish  Dragoons,  August  5,  1767,  at  the 
age  of  sixteen  years;  but,  preferring  the  infantry  service, 
exchanged  into  the  Twenty-fourth  Foot,  and  obtained  a  cap- 
taincy, April  17,  1769.  He  participated  in  the  campaign  of 
1776,  and  was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  October  seventh, 
but  was  with  the  army  when  it  surrendered.  He  was  made 
major  of  the  Twentieth  Foot,  December  i,  1778,  and  at- 
tained no  higher  rank  in  the  army.  Vide  Burke's  Peerage 
and  Baronetage,  in  loco ;  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco;  His- 
torical Record  Twenty-fourth  Foot;  Hadden's  Journal  and 
Orderly  Books,  p.  liv. 

256  William  Doyle  was  of  an  ancient  Irish  family  noted  in 
military  annals.  He  entered  the  British  infantry  service  as 
an  ensign  in  the  Twenty-fourth  Foot,  July  16, 1774,  and  was 
promoted  to  a  lieutenancy,  November  27,  1776,  at  the  close 
of  Carleton's  successful  campaign,  in  which  he  took  part. 
He  was  among  the  officers  who  surrendered  at  Saratoga. 
He  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  captain,  July  31,  1787,  major 
in  the  army.  May  6,  1795,  and  lieutenant-colonel,  Ju'y  22, 
1797.  He  exchanged  into  the  Sixty-second  Foot,  and  was 
made  its  lieutenant-colonel,  August  >6,  1804.  He  was  pro- 
moted to  the  army  rank  of  colonel,  October  30,  1805  ;  major- 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


339 


16*'*  Dragoons.     Prisoner,  Cornet  Grant. '^* 
N.  B  I  could  not  get  an  exact  account  of  the  loss 
of  the  German  troops  commanded  by  Gen  Reidzel, 


general,  June  4,  181  t,  and  lieutenant-general,  August  12, 
1 8 19.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco  ;  Burgoyne's  Orderly 
Book,  p.  178. 

^^■^  Thomas  Reynell  was  the  son  of  Sir  Thomas  Reynell  of 
Laleham,  Middlesex  county,  and  his  wife,  who  so  faithfully 
followed  him  through  the  terrible  scenes  of  the  campaign 
with  Mrs.  Riedesel,  Acland  and  Harnage,  until  the  fatal 
nineteenth  of  September,  when  he  received  his  death  wound, 
was  Anne,  the  daughter  of  Samuel  Coutty,  Esq.,  of  Kin- 
sale.  Mrs.  Reynell  was  left  with  three  small  children,  the 
oldest  of  whom  was  less  than  six  years  of  age,  and  the 
youngest  an  infant.  The  oldest  of  these  children,  Richard 
Littleton  Reynell,  born  April  30,  1772,  settled  in  America, 
where  he  was  married  and  lived  until  his  death,  September 
4,  1829,  at  which  time  he  enjoyed  the  title  of  baronet.  His 
brother,  Samuel,  who  was  born  October  31,  1775,  and  was 
hardly  two  years  of  age  at  his  father's  death,  died  unmar- 
ried, and  the  title  descended  to  Thomas,  the  youngest 
brother.  Thomas  Reynell,  the  subject  of  this  brief  sketch, 
entered  the  British  military  service  as  an  ensign  in  the 
Sixty-second  Foot,  December  8,  1767,  and  was  advanced  to 
the  rank  of  lieutenant,  May  3,  1770.  He  sailed  with  his 
regiment  from  the  Cove  of  Cork,  April  8,  1776,  and  took 
part  in  the  campaign  of  Carleton  of  that  year.  Anburey 
thus  relates  the  incidents  of  his  death  :  "  You  will  readily 
allow  that  it  is  the  highest  test  of  affection  in  a  woman,  to 
share  with  her  husband  the  toils  and  hardships  of  the  cam- 
paign, especially  such  cui  one  as  the  present.  What  a  trial 
of  fortitude  the  late  action  must  have  been,  through  a  dis- 
tressing interval  of  long  suspence  !  The  ladies  followed  the 
route  of  the  artillery  and  baggage,  and  when  the  action 
began,  the  Baroness  Reidesel,  Lady  Harriet  Ackland,  and 
the  wives  of  Major  Harnage  and  Lieutenant  Reynell,  of  the 
Sixty-second  Regiment,  entered  a  small  uninhabited  hut, 
but  when  the  action  became  general  and  bloody,  the  Sur- 


\nu4 


III 


II 


m: 


340 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


but  believe  it  was  pretty  near  equal   to  that  of  the 
British. 


geons  took  possession  of  it,  being  the  most  convenient  for 
the  first  care  of  the  wounded  ;  in  this  situation  were  these 
ladies  four  hours  together,  where  the  comfort  they  afforded 
each  other  was  broke  in  upon,  by  Major  Harnage  being 
brought  in  to  the  surgeons  deeply  wounded !  What  a  blow 
must  the  next  intelligence  be,  that  informed  them  that  Lieu- 
tenant Reynell  was  killed  ! "  Madame  Riedesel  gives  us 
further  particulars  of  the  trying  scenes  of  that  day:  "The 
wife  of  Major  Harnage,  a  Madame  Reynels  the  wife  of  the 
good  lieutenant  who  the  day  previous  had  so  kindly  shared 
his  broth  with  me,  the  wife  of  the  commissary,  and  myself, 
were  the  only  ladies  who  were  with  the  army.  We  sat 
together  bewailing  our  fate,  when  one  came  in,  upon  which 
they  all  began  whispering,  looking  at  the  same  time  exceed- 
ingly sad.  I  noticed  this,  and  also  that  they  cast  silent 
glances  toward  me.  This  awakened  in  my  mind  the  dread- 
ful thought  that  my  husband  had  been  killed.  I  shrieked 
aloud,  but  they  assured  me  that  this  was  not  so,  at  the 
same  time  intimating  to  me  by  signs,  that  it  was  the  lieu- 
tenant —  the  husband  of  our  companion  —  who  had  met 
with  misfortune.  A  moment  after  she  was  called  out.  Her 
husband  was  not  yet  dead,  but  a  cannoi  ball  had  taken  off 
his  arm  close  to  his  shoulder.  During  the  whole  night  we 
heard  his  moans,  which  sounded  fearfully  through  the 
vaulted  cellars.  The  poor  man  died  toward  morning."  The 
cellar  of  the  house  in  which  these  ladies  found  shelter  dur- 
ing this  dreadful  night  is  still  shown  to  the  curious.  Both 
Lamb  and  Digby  are  in  error  as  to  the  regiment  of  which 
he  was  a  member.  Lamb  makes  him  of  the  Twenty-fourth, 
and  Digby  of  the  Forty-seventh.  Vide  Burke's  Peerage 
and  Baronetage  and  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco  ;  Travels 
Through  the  Interior  Parts  of  America,  vol.  i,  p.  426;  Let- 
ters and  Journals  of  Madame  Riedesel,  p.  129,  et  seq. 

^^  Stephen  Harvey  became  a  lieutenant  in  the  army, 
August  15,  1775,  and  was  assigned  to  the  Sixty-second 
Foot  with  a  lieutenant's  commission  therein,  February  29, 
1776,  and   accompanied   his   regiment   to   America   a    few 


1  i 


^m 


Oil' 


II 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


341 


Battalion  of  Grenadiers  consisting  of  te?i  Companies 
Commanded  by  Major  Ackland. 

9**^  Company  ;  Killed,  Captain  Stapleton,^^'  Lieu- 


weeks  later.  Lamb  thus  records  his  fate :  "  Nor  should 
the  heroism  of  Lieutenant  Hervey,  of  the  62nd  regiment, 
a  youth  of  sixteen,  and  nephew  to  the  adjutant  general 
of  the  same  name  be  forgotten.  It  was  characterized  by 
all  that  is  gallant  in  the  military  character.  In  the  battle  of 
the  19th  September,  he  received  several  wounds,  and  was 
repeatedly  ordered  off  the  field  by  Lieutenant- Colonel  An- 
struther,  but  his  heroic  ardor  would  not  allow  him  to  quit 
the  battle  while  he  could  stand,  and  see  his  brave  comrades 
•fighting  beside  him.  A  ball  striking  one  of  his  legs,  his 
removal  became  absolutely  necessary,  and  while  they  were 
conveying  him  away,  another  wounded  him  mortally.  In 
this  situation,  the  surgeon  recommended  him  to  take  a 
powerful  dose  of  opium,  to  avoid  a  seven  or  eight  hours' 
life  of  most  exquisite  torture.  This  he  immediately  con- 
sented to,  and  when  the  colonel  entered  the  tent,  with 
Major  Harnage,  who  were  both  wounded,  they  asked 
whether  he  had  any  affairs  they  could  settle  for  him?  His 
reply  was,  that  being  a  minor,  every  thing  was  already 
adjusted  ;  but  he  had  one  request,  which  he  retained  just 
life  enough  to  utter:  'Tell  my  uncle,  I  died  like  a  soldier 

.'"     Anburey    gives   the    same    relation    and    adds: 

"Where  will  you  find  in  ancient  Rome  heroism  superior!  " 
Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Journal  of  Occurrences 
During  the  Late  American  War,  p.  179. 

259  Archibald  Stuart  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  army  under  a 
commission  dated  October  10,  1759;  but  we  have  no  further 
account  of  him  until  June  23,  1775,  when  we  find  him  a 
lieutenant  of  Invalids  at  Hull.  H'  was  commissioned  a 
lieutenant  of  the  Sixty-second  Foot  on  the  eve  of  its  de- 
parture to  relieve  Quebec.  He  fell  in  the  battle  of  October 
seventh. 

^^  George  Taylor  received  his  commission  as  an  ensign  in 
the  Sixty-second  Foot  on  March  2,  1776,  and  was  in  the 
campaign  of  that  year  under  Carleton.    He  was  one  of  those 


342 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


tenant  Huggart  ;''''♦  Wounded,  Captain   Swetman,''^^ 
Lieutenant  Rowe,'^'' 


youthful  officers  who  had  but  just  commenced  a  promising 
military  career,  which  was  brought  to  an  untimely  end  dur- 
ing this  campaign.  He  fell  at  the  battle  of  Freeman's 
Farm,  September  nineteenth,  in  which  battle  the  Sixty- 
second  suffered  severe  loss. 

^^  Levinge  Cosby  Phillips  was  commissioned  an  ensign 
in  the  Sixty-second  Foot,  December  20,  1776.  Wilkinson 
thus  alludes  to  him :  "  The  morning  after  the  action  I  vis- 
ited the  wounded  prisoners  who  had  not  been  dressed,  and 
discovered  a  charming  youth  not  more  than  16  years  old, 
lying  among  them ;  feeble,  faint,  pale  and  stiff  in  his  gore ; 
the  delicacy  of  his  aspect  and  the  quality  of  his  clothing 
attracted  my  attention,  and  on  enquiry  I  found  he  was  an 
Ensign  Phillips;  he  told  me  he  had  fallen  by  a  wound  in  his 
leg  or  thigh,  and  as  he  lay  on  the  ground  was  shot  through 
the  body  by  an  army  follower,  a  murderous  villain,  who 
avowed  the  deed,  but  I  forgot  his  name ;  the  moans  of  this 
hapless  youth  moved  me  to  tears ;  I  raised  him  from  the 
straw  on  which  he  lay,  took  him  in  my  arms  and  removed 
him  to  a  tent,  where  every  comfort  was  provided  and  every 
attention  paid  to  him,  but  his  wounds  were  mortal,  and  he 
expired  on  the  2ist ;  when  his  name  was  first  mentioned  to 
General  Gates,  he  exclaimed,  'just  Heaven  !  he  may  be  the 
nephew  of  my  wife,"  but  the  fact  was  otherwise.  Let  those 
parents  who  are  now  training  their  children  for  the  military 
profession  ;  let  those  misguided  patriots,  who  are  inculcating 
principles  of  education  subversive  of  the  foundations  of  the 
republic,  look  on  this  picture  of  distress,  taken  from  the  life, 
of  a  youth  in  a  strange  land,  far  removed  from  friends  and 
relations  co-mingled  with  the  dying  and  the  dead,  himself 
wounded,  helpless  and  expiring  with  agony,  and  then  should 
political  considerations  fail  of  effect,  I  hope,  the  feelings  of 
affection  and  the  obligations  of  humanity,  may  induce  them 
to  discountenance  the  pursuits  of  war,  and  save  their  off- 
spring from  the  seductions  of  the  plume  and  the  sword,  for 
the  more  solid  and  useful  avocations  of  civil  life ;  by  which 
alone  peace  and  virtue  and  the  republic  can  be  preserved, 


Lieutefiant  Digbys  Journal. 


343 


20^**  Company  ;  Wounded,  Major  Ackland,  twice ; 
Prisoners,  Major  Ackland. 


and  perpetuated."     Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Me- 
moirs of  My  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  p.  246. 

^*^  Henry  Young  received  his  commission  of  ensign  in  the 
Sixty-second  Foot  on  November  21,  1776,  and  this  was  his 
first  campaign.  Of  the  several  officers  of  tender  years  in 
Burgoyne's  army,  all  connected  with  families  of  repute, 
whose  lives  were  sacrificed  by  a  wretched  king  and  a  besot- 
ted aristocracy  in  the  support  of  a  bad  cause,  we  have 
touching  notices  in  the  journals  of  the  survivors  who  par- 
ticipated in  the  great  contest.  Madame  Riedesel  thus 
refers  to  the  last  hours  of  Ensign  Young:  "A  few  days 
after  our  arrival,  I  heard  plaintive  moans  in  another  room 
near  me,  and  learned  that  they  came  from  Young, — who 
was  lying  very  low.  I  was  the  more  interested  in  him,  since 
a  family  of  that  name  had  shown  me  much  courtesy  during 
my  sojourn  in  England.  I  tendered  him  my  services,  and 
sent  him  provisions  and  refreshments.  He  expressed  a  great 
desire  to  see  his  benefactress,  as  he  called  me.  I  went  to 
him,  and  found  him  lying  on  a  little  straw,  for  he  had 
lost  his  camp  equipage.  He  was  a  young  man,  probably 
eighteen  or  nineteen  years  old  ;  and,  actually,  the  own 
nephew  of  the  Mr.  Young  whom  I  had  known,  and  the 
only  son  of  his  parents.  It  was  only  for  this  reason  that 
he  grieved ;  on  account  of  his  own  sufferings  he  uttered 
no  complaint.  He  had  bfed  considerably,  and  they  wished 
to  take  off  his  leg,  but  he  could  not  bring  his  mind  to  it, 
and  now  mortification  had  set  in.  I  sent  him  pillows  and 
coverings,  and  my  women  servants  a  mattress.  I  redoubled 
my  care  of  him,  and  visited  him  every  day,  for  which  I 
received  from  the  sufferer  a  thousand  blessings.  Finally, 
they  attempted  the  amputation  of  the  limb,  but  it  was  too 
late,  and  he  died  a  few  days  afterward.  As  he  occupied  an 
appartment  close  to  mine,  and  the  walls  were  very  thin,  I 
could  hear  his  last  groans  throtigh  the  partition  of  my 
room."  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco;  Letters  and 
Journals  of  Madame  Riedesel,  p.  114. 


^^1 


1  '^' 


til    ^u\ 


11 


344 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


rSt 


2V^  Company;  Killed,  Lieut  Don;'^'  wounded 
Captn.  Ramsey, ''^^  Lieut.  Fetherston  ;^79  Prisoners, 
Captn  Ramsey. 

^^  George  Tobias  Fitzgerald  was  appointed  adjutant  of 
the  Sixty-second  Foot,  October  26,  1775,  and  fell  at  Sara- 
toga on  October  eleventh. 

"^^  John  Anstruther,  of  the  noble  Scotch  family  of  An- 
struther  of  Balcaskie,  entered  the  Twenty-sixth  Foot  as 
ensign,  May  2,  175 1,  and  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of  lieu- 
tenant in  the  Eighth  Foot,  August  28,  1756.  The  dates  of 
his  subsequent  commissions  are  as  follows:  captain-lieuten- 
ant, September  25,  1761;  captain,  July  23,  1762;  major, 
November  5,  1766;  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  Sixty-second 
Foot,  October  21,  1773.  He  served  in  the  campaign  of 
1776,  and  was  wounded  in  the  action  of  September  nine- 
teenth, and  also  in  that  of  October  seventh.  After  the 
surrender  he  was  paroled,  and  returned  home  in  1778.  He 
was  promoted  to  a  colonelcy  in  the  army,  November  17, 
1780,  but  does  not  seem  to  have  had  a  command  after 
his  return  to  England.  His  name  disappears  from  the  army 
lists  after  1782.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco  ;  Histori- 
cal Record  Sixty-second  Foot. 

'^'^'•'  Henry  Harnage  was  of  an  ancient  English  family,  and, 
at  the  age  of  seventeen,  received  his  first  commission  in  the 
military  service  as  an  ensign  in  the  Fourth  Foot,  June  7,  1 756, 
and,  on  September  twenty-ninth  of  the  following  year,  was 
advanced  to  a  lieutenancy  therein.  He  was  promoted,  May 
4,  1767,  to  a  captaincy  in  the  Sixty-second  Foot,  the  second 
battalion  of  his  regiment  having  received  that  number,  and, 
December  21,  1775,  to  a  majority.  He  was  wounded  in  the 
battle  of  September  nineteenth  in  the  bowels,  almost  pre- 
cisely in  the  same  manner  as  was  General  Eraser ;  but,  said 
the  surgeon,  "  the  general  had  eaten  a  hearty  breakfast,  by 
reason  of  which  the  intestines  were  distended,  and  the  ball, 

had  not  gone,  as  in  the  case  of  Major  Harnage,  between 

the  intestines,  but  through  them."  In  spite  of  this  severe 
wound,  he  was  on  the  battle-field  of  October  seventh,  when 
he  was  again  wounded.     When  the  army  retreated  on  the 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


345 


24**^  Company ; 

47*^^  Comp  iny  ;  Prisoner,  Lieutenant  England. 


280 


next  night  /e  are  told  by  Madame  Riedesel  that  "  he 
dragged  h.inself  out  of  bed,  that  he  might  not  remain  in 
the  hospital,  which  was  left  behind,  protected  by  a  flag  of 
truce,"  and,  although  suffering  from  his  wound,  he  did  not 
forget  to  attend  to  the  protection  of  her  and  her  children. 
He  was  made  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  army,  November 
17,  1780,  while  he  was  on  the  way  to  London  with  dispatches 
from  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and  was  commissioned  to  the  same 
rank  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Foot,  March  18, 
1782,  in  which  year  his  name  appears  on  the  army  lists  for 
the  last  time.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Letters 
and  Journals  of  Madame  Riedesel,  p.  114. 

^^^  Abraham  Bunbury  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in 
the  Sixty-second  Foot,  September  17,  1773,  and  received 
the  rank  of  captain  in  the  army,  December  21,  1775.  He 
does  not  appear  to  have  had  a  command  during  Burgoyne's 
campaign.  He  was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  October  sev- 
enth, and,  as  his  name  does  not  appear  in  the  list  of  officers 
paroled  at  Cambridge,  we  may  infer  that  he  was  taken  with 
other  wounded  men  back  to  Canada.  His  name  appears 
upon  the  army  lists  for  a  number  of  years,  but  he  held  no 
command  in  the  army. 

"^"^  Henry  Blacker  was  commissioned  as  an  ensign  in  the 
Sixty-second  Foot,  December  21,  1775,  and  was  acting  in 
that  capacity  when  the  surrender  at  Saratoga  took  place,  as 
his  name  so  appears  in  the  parole  of  Burgoyne's  officers, 
December  13,  1777.  He  was,  however,  commissioned  to  a 
lieutenancy  under  the  date  of  October  eighth.  He  was 
promoted  to  a  captaincy,  October  26,  1786. 

^®^  George  Hervey  was  commissioned  an  ensign  in  the  Sixty- 
second  Foot,  April  6,  1776,  and  was  wounded  in  the  action 
of  September  seventeenth.  He,  however,  was  in  the  battle 
of  October  seventh,  and  was  among  those  who  signed  the 
parole  after  the  surrender. 

^'  Wm.  Pendred  Naylor  was  commissioned  an  ensign  in 
the  Sixty-second  Foot,  March  12,  1774,  and  accompanied 

AA 


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346 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


62"'^  Company ;  Wounded,  Captn.  Shrlmpton.'^' 
2(^^  Company  ;  Wounded,  Lieut  Steel' 


383 


his  regiment  to  America  in  the  spring  of  1776.  After  the 
close  of  the  campaign  of  that  year,  Ensign  Naylor  was  pro- 
moted to  a  lieutenancy,  November  21,  1776,  which  rank  he 
held  when  taken  prisoner  in  the  battle  of  October  7,  1777. 
His  name  continued  to  be  borne  upon  the  army  lists  until 
1783,  when  it  disappeared. 

2^°  Henry  Danterroche  was  made  an  ensign  in  the  Sixty- 
second  Foot  on  November  21,  1776,  after  the  close  of  the 
campaign  of  that  year.  He  was  taken  prisoner  in  the  battle 
of  October  seventh,  and  does  not  appear  to  have  subse- 
quently advanced  beyond  the  grade  of  ensign.  His  name 
appears  upon  the  army  lists  for  the  last  time  in  1786. 

^"  Andrew  Durnford  was  commissioned  as  an  ensign  in 
the  Royal  Engineers,  July  28,  1769,  and  was  advanced  to 
the  rank  of  lieutenant,  March  6,  1775.  He  was  taken  pris- 
oner in  Colonel  Baum's  unfortunate  attack  on  Bennington. 
At  what  time  he  was  exchanged  we  do  not  know,  but  find 
him  acting  as  assistant  deputy  quartermaster-general  in  New 
York  and  Georgia  from  1779  to  the  close  of  the  war.  He 
was  commissioned  a  captain-lieutenant  and  captain  in  the 
Engineers,  October  i,  1784,  and  a  major  in  the  army,  May 
6,  1795.  His  name  does  not  appear  in  the  army  lists  after 
1799. 

^^  James  Grant  entered  the  Sixteenth  Light  Dragoons  as 
cornet,  December  27,  1774,  and  was  transferred  to  the 
Twenty-first  Dragoons,  December  27,  1775.  He  was  one 
of  the  men  selected  by  Burgoyne  to  bear  dispatches  through 
the  American  lines  to  Clinton,  but  was  not  successful,  and 
returned  to  the  British  camp.  He  was  subsequently  taken 
prisoner,  but  was  paroled  and  returned  to  England.  On 
October  20,  1779,  he  was  promoted  to  the  army  rank  of 
lieutenant,  and,  on  January  7,  1780,  exchanged  into  the 
Sixty-first  Foot  as  an  ensign.  On  the  following  twenty-sixth 
of  April  he  was  made  a  lieutenant,  but  we  can  trace  his 
career  no  farther,  as  his  name  disappears  from  the  army  lists 
after  1782. 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 

31^"  Company. 

34"*  Company  ;  Wounded,  Captain  Forbes. '^^ 

53'"''  Company  ;  Killed,  Captain  Wight. 


347 


'•^^  Francis  Samuel  Stapleton  entered  the  Ninth  Foot  as 
an  ensign,  September  4,  1762,  while  that  regiment  was  en- 
gaged in  its  arduous  and  successful  campaign  in  the  island 
of  Cuba,  and  the  next  year  accompanied  the  regiment  to 
Florida,  which  territory  Spain  had  ceded  to  Great  Britain 
in  exchange  for  Cuba,  which  it  had  lost  in  the  war.  In  the 
autumn  of  1769  the  Ninth  arrived  in  Ireland,  and  on  De- 
cember 12,  1770,  while  it  was  in  garrison  there,  Ensign 
Stapleton  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant,  and  on 
May  21,  1773,  was  promoted  to  a  captaincy  in  his  regi- 
ment. He  participated  in  the  operations  by  which  the 
Americans  were  expelled  from  Canada  in  1776,  and  fell 
mortally  wounded  in  the  action  of  the  7th  July,  1777. 
Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Historical  Record  Ninth 
Foot;  Journal  of  Occurrences  During  the  Late  American 
War,  p.  174. 

^^*  James  Haggart  received  his  first  commission  of  second 
lieutenant  of  marines,  May  25,  1775,  and  was  killed  in  the 
battle  of  July  7,  1777.  Anburey  relates  that  upon  the  very 
first  attack  of  the  Light  Infantry  a  ball  destroyed  both  of 
his  eyes. 

'^^  George  Swettenham  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in 
the  army,  February  28,  1760,  and  of  the  Ninth  Foot,  August 
8,  1764,  while  that  regiment  was  stationed  in  Florida  under 
the  command  of  Lieutenant-General  Whitemore.  In  1769 
he  returned  to  Ireland  with  his  regiment,  where  it  remained 
until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  in  America.  On  March 
2,  1776,  he  was  promoted  to  a  captaincy,  and  was  wounded 
at  the  battle  of  Freeman's  Farm.  He  was  among  the 
paroled  officers  of  the  surrendered  army.  His  regiment 
returned  to  England  at  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1783,  and 
was  stationed  in  Scotland  in  1784  and  1785,  and  in  the 
latter  year  his  name  disappears  from  the  army  lists.  Vide 
British  Army  Lists,  iji  loco  ;  Historical  Record  Ninth  Foot ; 
Burgoyne's  Orderly  Book,  p.  178. 


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vth 


British  Line. 

9"'  Regiment ;  Killed,  Lieutenant  Westrop ; 
Wounded,    Capt".   Mt.  Gomery,^^'^  Lieutenants    Ste- 

^®  John  Rovve  entered  the  service  as  an  ensign  in  the 
Ninth  Foot,  December  12,  1770,  while  this  regiment  was  in 
Ireland,  and  was  advanced  to  a  lieutenancy,  October  19, 
1772.  He  was  wounded  in  the  action  of  July  seventh,  and 
does  not  appear  to  have  beeh  with  his  regiment  after  this 
date.     He  was  superseded  September  20,  1777. 

^^  John  Don  received  his  commission  of  second  lieutenant 
in  the  Twenty-first  Foot,  August  28,  1771,  and  of  first  lieu- 
tenant, February  23,  1776.  Anburey  thus  speaks  of  his  death 
in  the  .iction  of  the  nineteenth  of  September  :  "  Shortly 
after  this  we  heard  a  most  tremendous  firing  upon  our  left, 
where  we  were  attacked  in  great  force,  and  the  very  first 
fire,  your  old  friend.  Lieutenant  Don,  of  the  21st  regiment, 
received  a  ball  through  his  heart.  I  am  sure  it  will  never  be 
erased  from  my  memory ;  for  when  he  was  wounded,  he 
sprung  from  the  ground,  nearly  as  high  as  a  man."  Vide 
British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Travels  Through  the  Interior 
Parts  of  America,  vol.  i,  p.  414. 

^^  Hon.  Malcolm  Ramsay  entered  the  Twenty-first  Foot 
as  ensign  on  May  18,  1761,  and  appears  on  the -same  date  to 
have  been  made  a  second  lieutenant.  The  Twenty-first  was 
at  this  time  engaged  in  the  successful  expedition  against 
Belleisle,  on  the  coast  of  France,  and,  after  the  capture  of 
that  place,  proceeded  to  Mobile.  Lieutenant  Ramsay  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  first  lieutenant,  January  16,  1765; 
captain-lieutenant,  October  6,  1769,  and  captain,  December 
25,  1770.  In  1772  his  regiment  was  ordered  home,  where  it 
remained  until  the  spring  of  1776,  when  it  sailed  for  Canada 
to  relieve  Carleton.  Captain  Ramsay  was  wounded,  Sep- 
tember nineteenth,  at  the  battle  of  Freeman's  Farm,  and 
so  severely  as  not  to  be  able  to  share  in  the  subsequent 
perils  of  the  campaign.  He  was  probably  in  Canada  at  the 
time  of  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  where  we  find  him, 
December  21,  1777,  commissioned  a  major  in  the  Eighty- 
third  Foot.     He  was  made  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Eighty- 


mp* 


Lieutenant  Digby's  Journal. 


349 


velly,^^5  Murray,'^^  Prince,'^^  Ensign  D  Salon,=^^  Ad- 
jutant, Fielding  i""^^  Prisoners,  Captn.  Mt  Gomery, 
Money — Ensign  D  Salons  and  Surgeon  [Shelly] 

third,  and  deputy  adjutant-general  in  New  Brunswick, 
August  24,  1 78 1.  His  name  appears  on  the  army  lists 
for  the  last  time  as  "lieutenant-colonel  late  Eighty-third 
Foot"  in  1794.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco;  His- 
torical Record  Twenty-first  Foot;  Journal  of  Occurrences 
During  the  Late  American  War,  p.  175. 

^^  Wm.  Featherstone  was  commissioned  a  second  lieu- 
tenant in  the  Twenty-first  Foot,  May  17,  1762,  and  a  lieu- 
tenant, November  18,  1768.  The  regiment  was  during  this 
time  stationed  at  Mobile,  where  it  remained  until  1772, 
when  it  returned  to  England.  Early  in  the  spring  of  1776 
it  was  ordered  back  to  America  to  relieve  Carleton,  and 
Lieutenant  Featherstone  participated  in  the  campaign  of 
that  year.  He  was  commissioned  a  captain-lieutenant  with 
rank  of  captain  in  the  army,  September  12,  1777.  He  was 
wounded  in  the  battle  of  October  seventh,  and  we  infer, 
was  conveyed  to  Canada,  as  his  name  does  not  appear  upon 
the  list  of  officers  who  surrendered  at  Saratoga.  His  name 
is  borne  upon  the  army  lists  as  captain  until  1794,  when 
it  disappears.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco ;  Historical 
Record  Twenty-first  Foot. 

^  Poole  England  received  his  first  commission  as  ensign 
in  the  Forty-seventh  Foot,  November  6,  1769,  and  on  April 
16,  1773  —  the  year  in  which  his  regiment  embarked  for 
America — he  was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy.  He  partici- 
pated in  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  —  in  which  action  he  was 
wounded  —  and,  when  Boston  was  evacuated,  accompanied 
his  regiment  to  Canada.  He  was  fort  major  at  Ticonderoga, 
September  6,  1777,  and  was  taken  prisoner,  but  liberated  on 
parole.  His  name  is  not  found  on  the  army  lists  later  than 
1783. 

^^  John  Shrimpton  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Sixty-second  Foot,  June  3,  1761,  and,  on  the  twenty-second 
of  the  following  October,  received  the  same  rank  in  the 


1 


I 


-»«w^a**M»wjt««ii;,. 


■"'■^p***  -^-  tf'i  wi  jrti. 


350 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


I'l 


4 


'I 


army,  and  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of  captain-lieutenant 
and  captain,  September  17,  1773.  He  was  wounded  on  the 
seventh  of  July  in  the  following  manner:  "After  the  action 
was  over,  and  all  firing  had  ceased  for  near  two  hours,  upon 
the  summit  of  the  mountain  I  have  already  described,  which 
had  no  ground  anywhere  that  could  command  it,  a  number 
of  officers  were  collected  to  read  the  papers  taken  out  of  the 
pocketbook  of  Colonel  Francis,  when  Captain  Shrimpton, 
of  the  62nd  regiment,  who  had  the  papers  in  his  hand, 
jumped  up  and  fell,  exclaiming,  'he  was  severely  wounded; ' 
we  all  heard  the  ball  whiz  by  us,  and  turning  to  the  place 
from  whence  the  report  came,  saw  the  smoke;  as  there  was 
every  reason  to  imagine  the  piece  was  fired  from  some  tree, 
a  party  of  men  were  instantly  detached,  but  could  find  no 
person,  the  fellow,  no  doubt,  as  soon  as  he  had  fired,  had 
slipt  down  and  made  his  escape."  Anburey  again  speaks 
of  him  shortly  after:  "Major  (sic)  Shrimpton,  who  I  told 
you  was  wounded  upon  the  hill,  rather  than  remain  with  the 
wounded  at  Huberton,  preferred  marching  with  the  brigade, 
and  on  crossing  this  creek,  having  only  one  hand  to  assist 
himself  with,  was  on  the  point  of  slipping  in,  had  not  an 
officer,  who  was  behind  him  caught  hold  of  his  cloaths,  just 
as  he  was  falling.  His  wound  was  through  his  shoulder,  and 
as  he  could  walk,  he  said  he  would  not  remain  to  fall  into 
the  enemy's  hands,  as  it  was  universally  thought  the  sick 
and  wounded  must."  Captain  Shrimpton  recovered  suffi- 
ciently to  participate  in  the  subsequent  scenes  of  the  cam- 
paign of  1777,  and  was  one  of  the  surrendered  officers  who 
signed  the  parole  at  Cambridge.  He  returned  to  England 
and  became  tower  major  at  the  Tower  of  London  in  1787, 
but  we  lose  sight  of  him  the  following  year.  Vide  British 
Army  Lists,  in  loco  /  Travels  Through  the  Interior  Parts  of 
America,  vol.  i,  pp.  231,  et  seq.,  342. 

"^"^  Thomas  Steele  entered  the  Tvv^enty-ninth  Foot  as  an 
ensign,  June  21,  1769,  and  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of  lieu- 
tenant therein,  November  3,  1773.  The  Twenty-ninth  Regi- 
ment was  in  America  during  this  period,  but  returned  to 
England  in  1774,  where  it  was  in  garrison  for  two  years, 
when  it  was  ordered  back  to  America  to  assist  in  the  war 
there.  Lieutenant  Steele  was  wounded  in  the  action  of 
July  seventh,  but  not,  it  would  appear,  seriously  enough  to 


mmmmm' 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


351 


prevent  him  from  participating  in  the  subsequent  events  of 
Burgoyne's  campaign,  as  we  find  him  at  the  close  of  it 
among  the  surrendered  officers.  The  army  lists  do  not 
bear  his  name  later  than   1784. 

^  Gordon  Forbes  entered  the  Thirty-third  Foot  as  an 
ensign  under  a  commission  bearing  date  August  27,  1756, 
and  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant  in  the  Seventy- 
second  Foot  —  the  second  battalion  of  the  Thirty-third, 
which  had  been  renumbered — on  October  2,  1757.  On 
October  17,  1762,  he  was  promoted  to  a  captaincy,  and  dur- 
ing the  two  following  years,  served  in  the  expedition  against 
the  Spanish  settlements  in  the  West  Indies.  On  his  return 
to  England,  he  exchanged  into  the  Thirty-fourth  Foot, 
April  12,  1764,  and  accompanied  his  regiment  to  Louisiana, 
which  Spain  had  just  ceded  to  Great  Britain.  The  Thirty- 
fourth  returned  to  England  in  1773,  and  was  ordered  to 
America  in  the  spring  of  1776.  At  the  close  of  the  suc- 
cessful campaign  against  the  Americans  in  that  year,  Cap- 
tain Forbes  was  promoted,  on  November  eleventh,  to  a 
majority,  and  transferred  to  the  Ninth  Foot,  with  which 
regiment  he  gallantly  served  in  the  campaign  of  the  follow- 
ing year.  He  was  wounded  in  the  action  of  the  nineteenth 
of  September,  and  was  among  the  officers  who  surrendered 
in  the  following  month.  He  returned  to  England  in  1778, 
and  was  made  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  One  Hundred  and 
Second  Foot,  September  24,  1781.  On  October  12,  1787, — 
having  been  on  half  pay  during  the  four  previous  years  — 
he  was  made  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Seventy-fourth  Foot, 
and,  November  18,  1790,  colonel  in  the  army.  On  April 
18,  1794,  not  having  had  a  regimental  command  for  a  period 
of  five  years,  he  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  One  Hundred 
and  Fifth  Foot,  and,  on  October  third,  was  made  a  major- 
general  in  the  army.  On  January  24,  1787, —  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Fifth  having  been  disbanded  during  the  preceding 
year  —  he  was  made  colonel  of  the  Eighty-first,  but  was 
transferred  to  the  Twenty-ninth  Foot  on  August  eighth  fol- 
lowing. He  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general, 
January  i,  1801,  and  of  general,  January  i,  1812.  His  death 
took  place  January  17,  1828.  Vide  British  Army  Lists,  in  loco  ; 
Hadden's  Journal  and  Orderly  Books,  pp.  xlvii,  162-164. 


.<.4**«*.-A*.;^,  V..«iw^,»i^^, .... 


:  1 


V  5 


r-J 


■It 


f:_ 


I* 


il 


352  Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 

^  Wm.  Stone  Montgomery.     See  note  167,  ante,  p.  221, 


"^  Joseph  Stevelly  was  commissioned  an  ensign  in  the 
Ninth  Foot,  January  i,  1774,  and  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  Heutenant,  December  19,  1776.  He  was  wounded  at  Fort 
Anne,  July  ninth,  but  was  with  his  regiment  at  the  time 
of  the  surrender.  His  name  is  not  borne  on  the  army  Hsts 
after  1781. 

"^  James  Murray  was  commissioned  an  ensign  in  the 
Ninth  Foot,  September  26,  1772,  and  a  lieutenant,  March 
2,  1776.  He  served  through  Carleton's  campaign,  and  was 
wounded  the  following  year  in  the  attack  on  Fort  Anne, 
July  ninth.  Anburey,  in  writing  home,  speaks  of  him  as 
"our  pleasant  Hibernian  friend,"  and  describes  the  rough 
manner  in  which  he  comforted  his  fellow  sufferers  who  had 
met  with  the  same  misfortune  which  had  befallen  him. 
Murray  was  among  the  officers  who  were  paroled  at  Cam- 
bridge after  the  surrender.  He  served  as  the  quartermaster 
of  his  regiment  until  the  close  of  the  war,  having  acted  in 
that  capacity  for  a  period  of  fourteen  years  —  namely,  from 
January  14,  1770,  to  the  close  of  1783.  He  was  advanced 
to  the  rank  of  captain,  March  31,  1787.  In  1789  he  retired 
from  the  service  upon  half  pay.  Vide  British  Army  Lists, 
in  loco ;  Travels  Through  the  Interior  Parts  of  America, 
vol.  I,  p.  350,  et  seq. 

^  WilHam  Prince  entered  the  Ninth  Foot  as  an  ensign, 
March  14,  1772,  and  was  advanced  to  a  lieutenancy,  July 
7,  1775.  He  was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Freeman's  F'arm, 
September  nineteenth,  but  not  sufficiently  to  prevent  him 
from  remaining  with  his  regiment,  hence  he  was  among  the 
officers  who  surrendered  at  Saratoga  a  few  weeks  later.  He 
was  promoted  to  a  captaincy,  April  5,  1781,  but  does  not 
appear  to  have  attained  any  higher  rank.  His  name  is 
borne  on  the  army  lists  for  the  last  time  in  1785. 

^^  Baron  Alexander  Salons  was  commissioned  an  ensign 
in  the  Ninth  Foot,  September  2,  1776.  By  an  order  of 
August  thirteenth  he  was  assigned  to  service  in  Captain 
Fraser's  corps,  and,  three  days  later,  while  in  performance 
of  his  duty,  was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Bennington.  He 
was  sent  back  with  the  wounded  to  Canada,  and,  after  his 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Jotirnal. 


353 


return  to  England,  was  made  a  captain  in  the  Eighty-fifth, 
which  was  assigned  to  duty  in  Jamaica.  The  cHmate  of 
Jamaica  wrought  great  havoc  in  the  regiment,  and  it  is  said 
that  in  a  short  time  nine-tenths  of  the  men  of  the  regiment 
were  dead  or  on  the  sick  list.  In  1783  his  name  disappears 
from  the  army  lists. 

^'  Isaac  Fielding  received  his  commission  as  adjutant  in 
the  Ninth  Foot,  November  24,  1775.  He  was  wounded  at 
Fort  Anne,  July  ninth,  but  had  recovered  from  his  wound 
sufficiently  to  take  part  in  the  final  scenes  of  the  campaign  ; 
hence  he  was  among  the  officers  who  surrendered  at  Sara- 
toga. We  have  no  account  of  his  subsequent  career,  as  his 
name  disappears  from  the  army  list  after  1780. 

45 


,■1:1 


M  tj>' 

•Li 


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«; 


m 


»,;. 


I 


■I 


354 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


Rettirn  of  the  army  of  the  United  States  under  the 
command  of  H.  Gates,  Major  Gefieral,  i  f^  October 


Brigadiers   

Colonels 

Lieut  Colonels. . , 

Majors    

Captains 

First  lieuten"  . . . 
Second  lieut". . . 

Ensigns 

Chaplains 

Adjutants 

Quarter  masters. 
Paymasters 


Surgeons. 


12 

44 

43 

49 

344 

332 

326 

345 
5 
42 
44 
30 
37 

43 
1392 

636, 


Surgeons  mates 

Sergeants  

Drummers 

Rank  &  file 13,216 

Sick  present 622 

Sick  absent 731 

At  Fort  Edward 3875 

On  Furlough 180 


22348. 


on  command. 


I 


;:>,> 


■  -Ui. 


11 


hf.i 


M 


Signed  —       4>nL  ^r^-T^T^^ 


Major  General. 


w 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


355 


Return  of  the  British   Troops  tmder  the  Command 
of  Lieut  Genl  Burgoyne  17   October  1777. 

Generals  staff 

Lieut  Col» 

Majors   

Captains  . aq^ 

Lieutenants 59. 

Ensigns 

Chaplains 

Adjutants .... 

Q"".  masters 

Surgeons 

Mates   

Sergeants 162. 

Drummers  &  fifers 135^ 

Rank  &  file  fit  for  duty 2365. 

Sick 361 

Musicians    ^5 

Batt  men 


10, 

4 


36 
4 
5 

3 
7 


139 


3379 


Signed 


Lieut.  General. 
Return  of  the  German  troops  under  the    Command 
of  Lieut.   General  Burgoyne,  if^  October  1777. 

Officiers j^2 

Bat  officiers 107^ 

Chusurgiers jq 

Soldats 

Tambours 


Total  Germans 


1792. 
72. 

2202. 


General  Major. 


1  ;!. 


)   .  ! 


V;l 


lil! 


k 


i! 


356  Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 

Total  provincial  army 22348. 

British 3379       5581. 

Germans 2202 

Difference  of  armies 16767. 

*General  Burgoyne's  speech  to  the  Indians  in 
Congress,  Bouquet  June  21  1777  and  their 
answer. 

Brave  Chiefs  and  Warriors. 

"  The  great  King,  our  common  father  and  the 
patron  of  all  who  seek  and  deserve  his  protection, 
has  considered  with  satisfaction  the  general  conduct 
of  the  Indians  tribes,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
troubles  in  America,  too  sagacious  and  too  faithful 
to  the  deluded  or  corrupted,  they  have  observed  the 
violated  rights  of  the  parental  power  they  love,  and 
burned  to  vindicate  them.  A  few  individuals  alone, 
the  refuse  of  a  small  tribe,  at  the  first  were  led  away, 
and  the  misrepresentations,  the  special  allurements, 
the  insidious  promises  and  diversified  [plots]  in  which 
the  rebels  are  exercised,  and  all  of  which  they  em- 
ployed for  that  effect,  have  served  only  in  the  end, 
to  enhance  the  honour  of  the  tribes  in  general  for 
demonstrating  to  the  world,  how  few  and  how  con- 
temptible are  the  apostates.  It  Is  a  truth  known  to 
you  all,  that,  these  pitiful  examples  excepted  (and 

*  This  speech  of  Burgoyne  to  the  Indians  appears  at  the 
end  of  Digby's  Journal,  and  is  imperfect,  the  leaves  which 
contained  the  concluding  portion  of  it  and  the  old  chiefs 
reply  being  lost.  These  I  have  been  enabled  to  supply,  J.  P.  B. 


[zn 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal, 


357 


they  probably  have  before  this  day  hid  their  faces  in 
shame),  the  collected  voices  and  hands  of  the  Indian 
tribes  over  their  vast  continent,  are  on  the  side  of 
justice,  of  law  and  of  the  king. 

[The  restraint  you  have  put  upon  your  res-  :;ntment 
in  waiting  the  King,  your  father's  call  to  arms,  the 
hardest  proof,  I  am  persuaded,  to  which  your  affec- 
tion could  have  been  put,  is  another  manifest  and 
affecting  mark  of  your  adherence  to  that  principle  of 
connection  to  which  you  were  always  fond  i:o  allude, 
and  which  is  the  mutual  joy  and  the  duty  of  the 
parent  to  cherish.] 

The  clemency  of  your  father  has  been  abused,  the 
offers  of  his  mercy  have  been  despised  and  his  farther 
patience,  would  in  his  eyes  become  culpable  in 
asmuch  as  it  would  withold  redress  from  the  most 
grievous  oppressions  in  the  provinces,  that  ever  dis- 
graced the  history  of  mankind.  It  therefore  remains 
for  me  the  general  of  one  of  his  majesties  armies, 
and  in  this  council  his  representative,  to  release  you 
from  those  bonds  [which]  your  obedience  imposed. 
Warriors  [you  are  free  !  Go]  forth  in  the  might  of 
your  valour  [and  your  cause  ;  strike  at  the  common 
enemies  of  Great  Britain  and  America  —  disturbers 
of  public  order,  peace,  and  happiness  —  destroyers  of 
commerce,  parricides  of  the  State." 

Having  reached  this  part  of  his  speech  General 
Burgoyne  raised  his  hand  and  pointed  to  the  British 
officers  which  surrounded  him  and  then  to  their 
German  allies  and  continued. 


i'li: 


I  I 


\\  ;:ii] 


ra 


358 


Lietitenant  Digbys  Journal. 


"  The  circle  around  you — the  chiefs  of  His  Majesty's 
European  forces  and  of  the  Princes  his  allies,  esteem 
you  as  brothers  in  the  war :  [emulous  in  glory  and 
in  friendship,  we  will  endeavour  reciprocally  to  give 
and  to  receive  examples ;  we  know  how  to  value, 
and  we  will  strive  to  imitate  your  preseverance  in 
enterprise  and  your  constancy,  to  resist  hunger,  weari- 
ness and  pain.]  Be  it  our  task,  from  the  dictates 
of  our  religion,  the  laws  of  our  warfare,  and  the  prin- 
ciples and  interests  of  our  policy,  to  regulate  your 
passions  when  they  overbear,  to  point  out  where  it 
is  nobler  to  spare  than  to  re  '^.nge,  to  discriminate 
the  degrees  of  guilt,  to  suspend  the  uplifted  stroke, 
to  chastise  and  not  to  destroy. 

[This  war  to  you  my  friends  is  new  ;  upon  all 
former  occasions,  in  taking  the  field,  you  held  your- 
selves authorized  to  destroy  wherever  you  came, 
because  every  where  you  found  an  enemy.  The  case 
is  now  very  different. 

The  King  has  many  faithful  subjects  dispersed  in 
the  provinces  consequently  you  have  many  brothers 
there,  and  these  people  are  more  to  be  pitied,  that 
they  are  persecuted  or  imprisoned  wherever  they  are 
discovered  or  suspected,  and  to  dissemble,  to  a  gen- 
erous mind,  is  a  yet  more  grievous  punishment. 

Persuaded  that  your  magnanimity  of  character, 
joined  to  your  principles  of  affection  to  the  King, 
will  give  me  fuller  controul  over  your  minds  than  the 
military  rank  with  which  I  am  invested,  I  enjoin 
your  most  serious  attention  to  the  rules  which  I  hereby 


Lieutenant  Digbys  Journal. 


359 


proclaim  for  your  invariable  observation  during  the 
campaign  ".] 

To  this  the  Indians  shouted  vociferously  Etow  ! 
Etow !  Etow!  to  signify  their  approval  and  then 
listened  with  eager  attention,  to  gather  from  the 
interpreter  the  General's  instructions  which  were  as 
follows  :  — 

"  I  positively  forbid  bloodshed  when  you  are  not 
opposed  in  arms. 

"  Aged  men,  women,  children,  and  prisoners  must 
be  held  secure  from  the  knife  or  hatchet,  even  in  the 
time  of  actual  conflict. 

"  You  shall  receive  compensation  for  the  prisoners 
you  take,  but  you  will  be  called  to  account  for  scalps. 

"  In  conformity  and  indulgence  to  your  customs, 
which  have  affixed  an  idea  of  honour  to  such  badges 
of  victory,  you  will  be  allowed  to  take  the  scalps  of 
the  dead  when  killed  by  your  fire  or  in  fair  opposi- 
tion, but  on  no  account  or  pretence  or  subtilty  or 
prevarication  are  they  to  be  taken  from  the  wounded 
or  even  from  the  dying,  and  still  less  pardonable  will 
it  be  held  to  kill  men  in  that  condition  [on  purpose, 
and  upon  a  supposition  that  this  protection  to  the 
wounded  would  be  thereby  evaded.  Base  lurking 
assassins,  incendiaries,  ravagers  and  plunderers  of  the 
country,  to  whatever  army  they  may  belong,  shall  be 
treated  with  less  reserve  ;  but  the  latitude  must  be 
given  you  by  order,  and  I  must  be  the  judge  on 
the  occasion.]  Should  the  enemy  on  their  part 
dare    to    countenance    acts    of    barbarity    tov/ards 


1  »' 


i.  <*itlni.^,u«MM*.ji. 


I        I 
jl 


IM 


1  -'    1 


360 


LieiUenant  Digbys  Journal. 


those  who  fall  into  their  hands,  it  shall  be  yours  also 
to  retaliate,  but  till  this  severity  shall  be  thus  com- 
pelled, bear  immovable  in  your  hearts  this  solid 
maxim :  (it  cannot  be  too  deeply  impressed)  [that 
the  great  essential  reward  the  worthy  service  of  your 
alliance]  the  sincerity  of  your  zeal  to  the  King, 
your  father  and'  never-failing  protector,  will  be  ex- 
amined and  judged  upon  the  test  only  of  your  steady 
and  uniform  adherence  to  the  orders  and  counsels  of 
those  to  whom  His  Majesty  has  entrusted  the  direc- 
tion and  the  honour  of  his  arms."] 

At  the  conclusion  they  again  shouted  Etow ! 
Etow !  Etow !  and  after  holding  a  consultation,  an 
aged  Iroquois  chief  gravely  arose  and  replied  as 
follows : 

Reply   of   the   Old    Chief   of  the    Iroquois    to 

BukGOYNE's    SPEECH    OF    JUNE    21^',     1777- 

I  stand  up  in  the  name  of  all  the  nations  present, 
to  assure  our  father  that  we  have  attentively  listened 
to  his  discourse.  We  receive  you  as  our  father, 
because  when  you  speak  we  have  the  voice  of  our 
great  father  beyond  the  great  lake.  We  rejoice  in 
the  approbation  you  have  expressed  of  our  behaviour. 
We  have  been  tried  and  tempted  by  the  Bostonians  ; 
but  we  have  loved  our  father,  and  our  hatchets  have 
been  sharpened  upon  our  affections.  In  proof  of 
the  sincerity  of  our  professions,  our  whole  villages 
able  to  go  to  war  are  come  forth.  The  old  and 
infirm,  our  infants  and  wives  alone  remain  at  home. 


iSBi 


■^•^^■.   ,>,  .......:^^-»d 


Lieutenant  Digbys  JournaL 


361 


With  one  common  assent  we  promise  a  constant 
obedience  to  all  you  have  ordered,  and  all  you  shall 
order  ;  and  may  the  Father  of  Days  give  you  many 
and  success." 

When  the  Iroquois  Chief  had  concluded  his  speech 
his  hearers  applauded  as  before  with  loud  shouts  of 
Etow  f  Etow  f  Etow  I 


46 


INDEX. 


Anbenaquis,  93. 

Aborcrombic,  General  James, 
before  Ticonderoga,  127; 
St.  Leger  served  under, 
256;  Stanwix  under,  258; 
mentioned,  217,  258. 

Account  of  Rurgoyne's  Cam- 
paign, Si'e  Neilson,  Charles. 

Acland,  Lady  Harriet,  accom- 
panied her  husband  to 
America,  112;  conflicting 
stories  concerning  her  sec- 
ond marriage,  112;  escaped 
from  a  burning  tent,  267, 
268 ;  romantic  attachment 
for  her  husband,  268  ;  in 
the  American  lines,  298 ; 
her  heroic  conduct,  298, 
299  ;  described,  299  ;  sister 
of  Capt.  Strangways,  338; 
mentioned,  295,  339. 

Acland,  Major  John  Dyke, 
wounded,  211,  290,  298,  343; 
his  tent  burned,  267  ;  him- 
self burned,  268;  the  ro- 
mantic attachment  of  his 
wife,  268  ;  biographical  no- 
tice, III;  mentioned,  16, 
III. 


Adams,  Katherine,  mother  of 
Capt.  Robert,  137. 

Adams,  Capt.  Robert,  mur- 
dered by  Indians,  135,  136; 
biographical  notice  of,  136- 

138- 
Adams,    Thomas,    father    of 

Capt.  Robert,  136,  137. 

Adolphus,  John,  his  History 
of  England,  cited,  239. 

Agnew,  Major  VVilliam, 
wounded,  335  ;  biograph- 
ical notice,  337. 

Albany,  Burgoyne,  Clinton 
and  Howe  to  meet  at,  14, 
15,  19,  24,  26,  64,  65,  259; 
Burgoyne  proceeded  to- 
ward, 21  ;  re-enforcements 
sent  to,  25  ;  Burgoyne's 
path  to,  blocked,  29 ;  Clin- 
ton on  the  way  to,  46  ;  Gen. 
Schuyler  born  and  died  in, 
241,  243  ;  the  Baroness  Rie- 
desel  in,  243  ;  volunteers 
from,  250;  St.  Leger  to 
meet  Burgoyne  at,  258 ; 
mentioned,  19,  28,  33,  loi, 
108,  240,  244,  257,  277,  281. 

Algonquins,  the,  93. 


I    ' 


II.W.li.Hl.vr«-.,.-,,„, 


,-WU'JI^J 


364 


Index. 


r      u 


Allen,  Col.    Ethan,  captured 

Ticonderoga,  127. 
Allen,  Joseph,  his  Battles  of 

the  British  Navy,  cited,  140. 
Amboy,  evacuated  by  Howe, 

71- 
America,  a  day  famous  in  the 

annals  of,  317;  mentioned, 
67.  69,  93,  102,  121,  155, 
156,  166,  169,  174,  182,  189, 
191,  218,  222,230,234,  239, 
245,  246,  300,305,  306,  310, 
325,  327.  330,  33i»332,  333. 
334,  335,  337,  339,  340,  346, 
349,  350. 

American  Archives,  The, 
cited,  104,  114,  130,  138, 
254,  300. 

American  Historical  Record, 
The,  cited,  257. 

American  Revolution,  The 
History  of,  see  Ramsay, 
Day   1,  M.  D. 

American  troops,  the,  trium- 
phant in  Canada,  3,  8 ; 
driven  from  Quebec,  9,  10; 
disheartened,  13  ;  sufferings 
of,  13,  14;  bitter  at  the  loss 
of  Ticonderoga,  20;  impa- 
tient for  the  approach  of 
Carleton,  172;  accused  of 
inhumanity,  261,  263,  264, 
265,  270,  272,  273;  defended 
by  Gates,  261-263. 

American  War,  History  of 
the,  see  Stedman,  C. 

Amhurst,  Gen.  Jeffrey,  cap- 
tured Crown  Point,  127; 
captured  Ticonderoga,  127; 
biographical  notice  of,  135- 

137- 


Anburey,  Thomas,  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  17  ;  his  Trav- 
els through  the  Interior 
Parts  of  America  translated 
into  PVench  and  German, 
17;  cited,  17,  18,  123,  130, 
131,  134,  175,211-213  237, 
252,  255,  268,270,272,  273, 

327,  330,  331,332,339,  340, 
341,  348,  350,352. 

Ancient  and  Honorable  Artil- 
lery Company,  The,  283. 

Andover,  Mass.,  282. 

Annual  Biography  and  Obitu- 
ary, The,  cited,  278. 

Annual  Register,  The,  cited, 
86,  140,  148. 

Anson,  Lord,  General  Howe 
served  under,  156. 

Anstruther,  Colonel  John, 
wounded,  336,  337;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  344  ; 
mentioned,  272,  341. 

Anticosti,  Island  of,  described, 
96,  97. 

Antiochus,  121. 

Antroch,  Ensign  Henry  de, 
sec  Danterroch,  Henry. 

Apollo,  The,  187. 

Argyle,  the  Tories  of,  seek 
protection  from  the  In- 
dians, 236. 

iVriadne,  The,  148. 

Arnold,  Gen.  Benedict,  joined 
Montgomery,  8 ;  attacked 
by  Carleton,  10,  12  ;  unable 
to  form  a  conjunction  with 
Sullivan,  12,  13  ;  attacked 
Burgoyne  and  Eraser,  30 ; 
urged  Gates  to  make  a  night 
attack,  32,  291  ;  suspended, 


Index. 


365 


32;  a  controlling  spirit  in  a 
fight,  39,  40,  41  ;  duel  with 
Balcarres,  87  ;  dispatched  a 
party  to  reconnoitre,  145  ; 
commander  on  the  lake, 
146,  147,  241  ;  built  the 
Royal  Savage,  158;  com- 
mander of  the  Congress, 
163  ;  confidence  reposed  in, 
164;  heroic  conduct,  171, 
288,  289;  strengthened  his 
position  at  Ticonderoga, 
172  ;  accompanied  Phillips 
to  Virginia,  175  ;  supposed 
letter  to  Burgoyne,  241  ; 
joined  the  British,  246 ; 
suspected  by  Clinton,  246, 
247  ;  with  Morgan  in  Can- 
ada, 271  ;  his  furious  attack 
upon  the  Germans,  288, 
289;  before  Quebec,  325; 
biographical  notice  of,  146, 
147;  mentioned,  9,  313,319. 

Arnold,  Hannah,  letter  of,  to 
her  son  Benedict,  146. 

Arnold's  Campaign  for  the 
Conquest  of  Canada,  see 
Henry,  John  Joseph. 

Arrogant,  The,  150. 

Articles  of  Convention  be- 
tween Gates  and  Burgoyne, 
312-317. 

Astor  Library,  vi. 

August,  The,  253. 

Baccalaos,  early  name  of  New- 
foundland, 90. 

Balcarres,  the  Earl  of,  at- 
tacked by  Arnold,  41  ;  duel 
with  Arnold,  87  ;  landed  at 
Quebec,     104 ;      wounded, 


211,331;  biographical  no- 
tice of,  86  ;  mentioned,  16, 
no,  252,  327. 

Balcaskie,  Scotland,  344. 

Barrc,  Col.  Isaac,  demanded 
of  Germaine  what  was  be- 
come of  Burgoyne,  65  ;  re- 
gretted the  death  of  Gen. 
Montgomery,  100,  loi. 

Basque,  a  province  of  Spain, 

95- 
Basques,  the,  fished  early  near 

Newfoundland,  90. 

Batman,  defined,  202. 

Batten  Kill,  249,  253. 

Battersby,  Lieutenant  James, 
wounded,  330;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  330. 

Battles  of  the  British  Navy, 
see  Allen,  Joseph. 

Baum,  Lieut.-Col.  Frederick, 
sent  to  attack  Bennington, 
23-24;  250,  251,  346;  his 
command  destroyed,  23 ; 
taken  prisoner,  260 ;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  260 ; 
mentioned,  193,  194. 

Bay  of  Biscay,  207. 

Bay  of  Placentia,  91. 

Beatson,  Robert,  his  Military 
Memoirs  of  Great  Britain, 
cited,  148 ;  his  Political 
Index  to  the  Histories  01 
Great  Britain,  cited,  148. 

Belle  Isle,  the  expedition 
against.  Col.  Hamilton  in, 
196;  General  Hodgson  in, 
207  ;  Maj.  Walker  in,  207 ; 
Capt.  Jones  in,  325  ;  Col. 
Lind  in,  333  ;  Capt.  Ram- 
say in,  348. 


'  n. 
.11 


i 


->x.*4:^,r¥,'m 


366 


Index. 


\\\ 


!   !i'!tr 


■  ^.     ,' 


Bcmus  Heights,  the  battle  of, 
Maj.  Acland  wounded  at, 
III  ;  Mrs.  Acland  at,  T12  ; 
Ikcymann  killed  at,  193. 

Bennington,  the  patriots 
gathered  at,  23  ;  Gen.  Baum 
sent  to  seize  the  stores  at, 

23. 
Bennington,    the     battle    of, 

Lieut.-Col.  Peters  at,  194; 
Gen.  Ricdesel  sent  to,  248, 
250;  Lieut.-Col.  Baum 
taken  prisoner  at,  260,  346  ; 
the  victory  at,  caused  re- 
cruits to  come  into  the 
American  camp,  267  ;  Capt. 
Durnford  taken  prisoner  at, 
346  ;  Capt.  Salons  wounded 
at,  352  ;  mentioned,  24,  27, 
193,  255,  260,261,262,  265. 

Berkshire,  England,  86. 

Berwick,  Maine,  10, 

Berwick,  Scotland,  Sir  Wil- 
liai  Howe,  governor  of, 
156. 

Betham,  the  Rev.  William, 
his  Baronetage,  cited,  222. 

Bingley,  Lord,  a  supposed 
relative   of  Burgoyne,   168. 

Biographical  Dictionary,  sec 
Blake,  John  L.,  D.  D. 

Bird  Islands,  The,  described, 
92. 

liirnstead,  England,  Howarth 
died  at,  328. 

Biscay,  a  province    of  Spain, 

95- 

Biscay,  the  Bay  of,  207. 

Biscayners,  The,  supposed  an- 
cestors of  the  Esquimaux, 
95  ;  traces  of,  in  Europe,  95. 


Blake,  Capt.  John,  wounded, 
335  ;  biographical  notice  of, 

337.  338. 

Blake,  John  L.,D.D,  hi- Bio- 
graphical Dictionary,  cited, 
247. 

Bii^Ciec,  sec  IMackcr. 

l^lacker,  Ensign  Henry, 
wounded,  337 ;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  345. 

Blcurie  River,  The,  142. 

Blomefield,  Capt.  Thomas, 
wounded,  325  ;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  325,  326. 

Bonchetti,  Joseph,  his  liritish 
Dominions  in  North  Amer- 
ica, cited,  97. 

Boscawen,  Admiral  Edward, 
accompanied  to  America 
by  St.  Clair,  218. 

I^oston,  Burgoyne's  troops  to 
embark  at,  49  ;  troops  quar- 
tered in,  49,  50;  Gen.  Heath 
at  the  siege  of,  62 ;  Bur- 
goyne in,  115;  Capt.  Craig 
at  the  siege  of,  166;  Col. 
Marshall  born  in,  283  ; 
mentioned,  60,  61,  62,  103, 
113,  147,  1*82,  194,244,  282, 

314,  349- 
Boston    Gazette,    The,    Gen. 

Heath  a  writer  for,  61. 

Boston  Massacre,  Lieut.  Bat- 
tersby  in  the,  330. 

Boston,  The,  burnt,  162 ; 
commanded  by  Sumner, 
163. 

Botta,  Carlo  G.  G.,  his  His- 
tory of  the  War  of  Inde- 
pendence, cited,  loi,  247. 

Boucherville,  Canada,  193. 


mmm 


■WM 


Index. 


1^1 


Bouchcrville.  Capt.  Rene  An- 
toinc  dc,  in  command  of  a 
Canadian  company,  193  ; 
biographical  notice  of,  193. 

Bouquet  Expedition,  CapL 
Adams  in  the,  137. 

Bouquet,  Col.  Henry,  200. 

Bouquet  River,  The,  named 
aftei  Col.  Bouquet,  200. 

Bourbon  River,  The,  93. 

Bouroughbridge,  England, 
represented  by  Gen.  Phil- 
lips, 174. 

Braddock,  Gen.  Edward,  Gen. 
Gates  served  under,  169 ; 
Col.  Morgan  served  under, 
270 ;  Capt.  Langlade  served 
under,  254. 

Brampton,  England,  Arnold's 
death  at,  147. 

Brandywine,  Battle  of,  Gen. 
Sullivan  at  the,  10. 

Breed's  Hill,  236,  see  Bunker 
Hill. 

Brenton,  Edward  P.,  his  Naval 
History  of  Great  Britain, 
cited,  148. 

Breymann,  Lieut.-Col.  Hein- 
rich  Christoph,  sent  to  sup- 
port Baum,  24 ;  defeated, 
24;  biographical  notice  of, 
193-194  ;  mentioned,  31, 
41,  193,  288. 

Bribes,  Gens.  Schuyler  and 
St.  Clair  accused  of  accept- 
ing, 219. 

British  Army  Lists,  The, 
cited,  86,  87,  109,  112,  114, 
123,  124,  130,  137,  150,  156, 
160,  171,  175,  181,  182.  195, 
199,  203,  206,  207,  211,  217, 


219,223,225,  234,  235,  245, 
247,257,278,  287,  290,  300, 
306,312,325,  327,  328,  329, 

330'332,  333.  334.  335.  336, 
337,338.339.  340,  341.  343. 
344,  345,  347,  348,  349,  350, 

351,352. 

British  Family  Antiquary,  see 
Playfaire,  William. 

British  Museum,  v,  vii. 

British  North  America,  Gen. 
Craig  Governor  General  of, 
167. 

British  War  Office,  vi. 

Brooks,  the  Rev.  Charles,  his 
History  of  Medford,  cited, 
213. 

Brown,  Col.,  attacked  Ticon- 
dcroga,  277. 

Brudenel,  the  Rev.  Edward, 
performed  the  funeral  serv- 
ice at  the  burial  of  General 
Eraser,  296 ;  conducted 
Lady  Acland  to  the  Amer- 
ican lines,  298,  299 ;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  298. 

Brunswick,  334. 

Brunswick  Dragoons,  The, 
260. 

Brymen,  see  Breymann,  Lieut.- 
Col.  Heinrich  Christoph. 

Brymner,  Mr.  Douglas,  vi,  195. 

Buckingham,  James  Silk,  his 
Canada,  Nova  Scotia  and 
other  British  Provinces, 
cited,  92. 

Bullet,  Story   of  the    Silver, 

33,  34- 
Bunbury,     Capt.     Abraham, 

wounded,  337 ;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  345. 


\         ■!'- 


368 


Index, 


j» 


Wi 


lt|! 


Bunker  Hill,  the  battle  of,  its 
effect  upon  the  English 
Govern. nent,  4,  5 ;  Dear- 
born at,  38 ;  the  retreat 
from  Long  Island  com- 
pared to  the,  60  ;  Col.  Nes- 
bit  at,  114;  witnessed  by 
Burgoyne,  116;  the  assault 
led  by  Gen.  Howe,  155  ; 
Capt.  Craig  at,  166,  167 ; 
L'Estrange  at,  182;  Col, 
Hale  at,  216;  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  at,  246;  Col.  Dow- 
ling  at,  335  ;  Lieut.  Eng- 
land   at,    349 ;    mentioned, 

236,  313- 
Burgoyne,    Lady    Charlotte, 

115. 
Burgoyne,  Lieut.-Gen.  Sir 
John,  drove  Sullivan  to  St. 
Johns,  10;  sailed  for  Eng- 
land, 13,  14;  at  Quebec, 
14,  187;  in  command  of 
the  Northern  army,  14,  15, 
84,  85,  187,  188;  at  Mon- 
treal, 15 ;  letter  to  Lord 
Germaine,  15;  occupied  a 
post  near  Ticonderoga,  1 5  ; 
fine  equipped  army,  16-18; 
army  divided  into  three 
brigades,  17;  detached  St. 
Leger  to  Fort  Schuyler, 
18;  at  Crown  Point,  19; 
before  Ticonderoga,  19,  20; 
his  position  discovered,  20  ; 
captured  Ticonderoga,  20; 
victory  celebrated,  21,  172  ; 
letter   to    Lord   Germaine, 

21  ;  sent  for  more  troops, 
21-22;    to  Skeensborough, 

22  ;  his  progress  hindered, 


22,  30;  discontent  of  his 
allies,  and  army  weakened, 
22-23;  •''Cnt  Baum  to  Ikn- 
nington,  23  ;  embarrassed, 
24,  29,  37 ;  disheartened 
letter  to  Lord  Germaine, 
24-27 ;  messages  to  Gen. 
Howe  intercepted,  25,  28, 
123;  to  meet  Howe  at  Al- 
bany, 24,  26,  64,  65,  188, 
257,258;  recruits  at  Lake 
Champlain,  26;  communi- 
cations cut  off,  26,  197  ; 
awaited  Howe's  operations, 
26 ;  peril  of  his  position, 
27,  28,  29;  defeat  of  St. 
Leger,  27 ;  crossed  the 
Hudson,  28 ;  at  Dovegat, 
29  ;  path  blocked,  29;  army 
divided,  29,  ;;o ;  atteicked 
by  Arnold  and  Morgan,  30, 
38;  failed  to  follow  a  gained 
advantage,  31,  275;  un- 
justly claimed  victory,  31  ; 
advised  to  advance,  32  ;  re- 
ceived letters  from  Gen. 
Clinton,  32-34,  275  ;  mes- 
senger to,  taken  prisoner, 
33,  284;  hoped  for  re-en- 
forcements, 32,  33  ;  fortified 
his  camp,  33,  34;  letter  to 
Clinton,  35,  36;  position 
more  critical,  37,  288,  289, 
300  ;  prepared  to  attack  the 
Americans,  37  ;  attacked  by 
the  enemy,  38  ;  ordered  a 
retreat,  40,  41  ;  moved 
across  Fish  Creek,  42,  293  ; 
not  guilty  of  spending  the 
night  in  revelry,  42,  43  ; 
sent  a   force  to   clear   the 


Index, 


369 


way  to  Fort  Edward,  44; 
li  ^till  'Tiore  critical  position, 

46 ,  called  a  council,  46,  47, 
317,  318;  a  retreat  pre- 
vented  by  the  enemy,  46, 

47,  251,  279;  proposed  a 
surrender,  47,  296,  305-307  ; 
his  terms  accepted,  47  ;  en- 
deavored to  break  the 
agreement,  47-48,  309.  3 10, 
311;  treaty  signed,  48,  3 1 2  ; 
surrendered,  49;  troops 
started  for  Boston,  49 ;  dif- 
ficulty in  supplying  quarters 
for  his  army,  51,  52;  com- 
plicated affairs,  53  ;  his  sup- 
plies in  arrears,  54;  regimen- 
tal colors  not  given  up,  55, 
74 ;  his  utterances  carefully 
scanned,  57 ;  his  soldiers 
deserted,  58;  feeling  of 
doubt  concerning  him,  58  ; 
his  health  impaired,  59 ; 
embarked  for  England,  59, 
88,  173;  paid  expenses  for 
his  troops,  59 ;  felt  that  the 
American  Government 
treated  him  unjustly,  64; 
dispatches  from,  reach 
England,  (£,  346 ;  the  dis- 
aster of  his  army  expected, 
64-66,  318,  319;  his  recep- 
tion in  London,  66,  6j ; 
published  an  address  on  his 
campaign,  68,  69 ;  ministry 
hostile,  68  ;  accused  of  try- 
ing to  supplant  Carleton, 
68 ;  charged  with  double 
dealing,  68  ;  endeavored  to 
have  his  captured  army  lib- 
erated,   68 ;    demanded    a 

47 


trial,  68-69 ;  assailed  by 
pamphlets,  69,  70 ;  popular, 
6y,  68,  69 ;  ordered  to 
America,  6y,  68,  69 ;  his 
army  a  sacrifice  to  a  blunder 
of  Lord  Germaine,  70,  321  ; 
Howe's  failure  to  co-oper- 
ate with  him  a  puzzle  to 
Washington,  71,  72;  com- 
pared to  Howe,  72  ;  second 
in  command,  84,  85;  treated 
prisoners  humanely,  108; 
his  expedition  against  Forts 
Chambly  and  St.  Johns, 
114-116;  in  Parliament, 
115;  general  orders  of,  1 19; 
orders  against  scalping, 
^35>  359;  o"  the  Maria, 
151;  erected  a  block-house, 
152;  witnessed  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill,  155  ;  his 
favorite  aid-de-camp,  160; 
his  parentage,  168 ;  com- 
plimented Carleton,  172  ; 
advised  Carleton  to  ad- 
vance, 172;  left  Phillips  in 
command  of  the  troops, 
175  ;  Colonel  of  the  Queen's 
Regiment,  189,  229,  231, 
232 ;  Governor  of  Fort 
William,  189,  229,  231, 
232;  manifesto  of,  189-192; 
humorous  replies  to,  192, 
229-232 ;  his  unfavorable 
opinion  of  the  Provincial 
loyalists,  195  ;  on  St.  Clair's 
want  of  foresight,  204 ; 
praised  the  Grenadiers,  2 1 2; 
occupied  Mount  Defiance, 
218 ;  said  to  have  bribed 
Gens.     Schuyler     and    St. 


•  -I- .41.,  fWfVf 


n 


370 


Index. 


Clair,  219;  eulogized  Gen. 
Montgomery,  221  ;  iti  Port- 
ugal, 222  ;  eulogized  Gen. 
Fraser,  224-225;  his  advance 
on  Skeensborough  a  help 
to  the  enemy,  227-228  ;  is- 
sued a  proclamation,  233  ; 
not  in  favor  of  hiring  In- 
dians, 237-239,  262  ;  letters 
to  Gi;n.  Gates,  237,  263, 
259-265  ;  supposed  letter 
from  Gen.  Arnold,  241  ;  de- 
stroyed the  house  of  Gen. 
Schuyler,  243  ;  at  Duer's 
house,  244;  Gen,  Clinton's 
weak  attempt  to  help  him, 
246 ;  at  Fort  Miller,  249 ; 
crossed  the  Hudson,  249, 
267  ;  on  St.  Luc,  254  ;  his 
orders  relating  to  deserters, 
256  ;  to  meet  St.  Leger  at 
Albany,  257,  258;  com- 
plained of  the  treatment  of 
prisoners,  261;  sent  supplies 
to  his  officers,  263  ;  de- 
fended himself  against  the 
aspersions  of  Gen.  Gates, 
264-265;  on  Saratoga 
Heights,  267,  300;  com- 
pared to  Gen.  Gates,  274; 
his  reasons  for  not  follow- 
ing the  advice  of  Fraser 
and  Phillips,  275  ;  his  death 
reported,  277 ;  heard  of 
Clinton's  advance,  278 ; 
criticised  in  his  own  army, 
291  ;  baggage  destroyed, 
301  ;  denied  having  unnec- 
essarily destroyed  property, 
301;  discontent  in  his  army, 
302-303 ;    articles    of    sur- 


render given  in  full,  312- 
317  ;  his  surrender  the  turn- 
ing point  of  the  Revolution, 
318;  his  meeting  with  Gen. 
Gates,  320 ;  letters  to  Lord 
Germaine,  323  ;  not  to  be 
censured,  323 ;  return  of 
the  killed,  wounded  and 
prisoners  of  his  command, 
324;  return  of  his  troops, 
355  ;  his  speech  to  the  In- 
dians, 356-360;  other 
speeches  of,  cited,  68,  254, 
3u2  ;  biographical  notice  of, 
1 14-1 16  ;  mentioned,  v,  vi, 
vii,  I,  2,  t6,  18,  56,  65,  117, 
123,  136,  139,  150,  170,  192, 
194,  197,  198,  211,  219,  220, 
239,  243,  260,  271,  281,  282, 
297.  308,  313-  314,315.  316, 
322,  325,327.  332,333,  335, 
337,343,345,348;  the  Con- 
vention  of  Saratoga,  see 
Deane,  Charles,  LL.D.  ; 
his  letter  to  his  constitu- 
ents, cited,  66  ;  his  Orderly- 
Book,  see  O'Callaghan,  Ed- 
mund B.,  LL.D.;  his  State 
of  the  Expedition  from 
Canada,  cited,  15,  21,  24, 
49,  50,  69,  112,  175,  325, 
327.  .SV^,  also,  FonlDlanque, 
Edward  Barrington,  de  ; 
Neilson,  Chas.;  and  Stone, 
Col.  William  L. 

Burgoyne,  Sir  John  Fox,  son 
of  Gen.  Sir  John,  116. 

Burgoyne's  Light-Horse,  115. 

Burke,  Sir  Bernard,  his 
Landed  Gentry,  cited,  181 ; 
his    Peerage   and   Baronet- 


Index, 


371 


age,  cited,  86,  87,  104,  112, 
116,  156,  160,  327,  338, 
340. 

Burke,  Edmund,  denounced 
the  employment  of  merce- 
nary troops,  7 ;  eulogized 
Montgomery,  loi. 

Burcaco,  the  battle  of,  Gen. 
Howarth  at,  328. 

Cab  riding,  180. 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  Lie  .t. 
Digby  at,  vii ;  officers  quar- 
tered at,  50 ;  Balcarrcs  at, 
87 ;  Gen.  Thompson  at, 
107 ;  flags  displayed  at, 
161;  Gen.  Gates  at,  170; 
Gen.  Phillips  at,  175;  Col. 
Morgan  at,  270 ;  Gen. 
Learned  at,  282 ;  Capt. 
Bunbury  at,  345  ;  Capt. 
Shrimpton  at,  350;  men- 
tioned, 59,  212,  216,  326. 

Campbell,  Capt.  Alexander, 
carried  a  dispatch  from 
Burgoyne  to  Gen.  Clinton, 

36. 
Canada,  Lieut.  Digby  in,  vi, 
vii ;  Forty-third  Regiment 
in,  vi,  2 ;  Americans  tri- 
umphant in,  3,  8 ;  Gen. 
Carleton  to  remain  in,  14; 
Gen.  Montgomery's  cam- 
paign in,  19  ;  Gen.  Amherst 
in,  135  ;  Gen.  Gates  in,  170 ; 
mentioned,  v,  3,  21,  38,  39, 
4i>  55,  65,  83,  92,  93,  no, 
114,  119,  122,  123,  124,  129, 
133,  149,  171,  173,  176,  180, 
187,  188,  189,  193,  194,  197, 
198,  199,  200,  203,  218,  226, 


240,  253,  257,  258,  279,  282, 
283,285,300,  316,  326,  329, 

330,  332,  336,  345.  347.  348, 
349,  352  ;  Arnold's  Cam- 
paign for  the  Conquest  of, 
sec  Henry,  John  Joseph  ; 
Concjuest  of,  see  Jones, 
Charles  H. ;  The  History 
of,  sec  Garneau,  Francis 
Xavier;  Nova  Scotia  and 
other  British  Provinces,  see 
Buckingham,  James  Silk  ; 
State  of  the  Expedition 
from,  see  liurgoyne,  Lieut.- 
Gen.  Sir  John. 

Canadians,  Gen.  Carleton's 
treatment  of  the,  85,  184; 
employed  in  the  British 
army,  119,  142,  238  ;  forced 
to  work  in  irons,  120;  char- 
acter of  the,  122;  do  not 
bury  their  dead  in  the 
winter,  183;  under  Bouch- 
erville  and  Moning,  193  ; 
under  McKay,  300 ;  de- 
serted, 304 ;  returned  to 
Canada,  316. 

Canoes,  how  constructed, 
123-125. 

Cape  Breton,  194,  253. 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Lieut. 
Scott  at  the,  124;  Capt. 
Pringle  in  command  at  the, 

'  48 ;  Capt.  Craig  governor 
of,  167. 

Cape  Race,  91. 

Cape  Rosiers,  91. 

Cardigan,  Capt.  Longcroft,  in 
command  of  the  Sea  Fenci- 
bles  off,  151. 

Caresford,  The,  83,  91. 


1  i: 


I      li 


';|Mi»...  .  i-i  uvmi...t,  .^11 


(i  > 


hfi 


372 


Index. 


Carlbs,  the  campaifrn  against, 
149;  Capt.  Green  in  the, 
278. 

Carib  war,  Capt.  Pilot  in  the, 
149. 

Carillon,  name  given  to  the 
present  Ticonderoga  by 
Montcalm,  127. 

Carleton,  Gen.  Sir  Guy,  took 
refuge  in  Quebec,  8  ;  forced 
Gen.  Thomas  to  retreat,  9, 
10;  his  army  divided,  10; 
attacked  Gen,  Arnold  at 
Montreal,  10;  improvised 
a  navy,  1 1  ;  pushed  on  to 
Crown  Point,  12;  eluded 
by  Arnold,  12;  destroyed 
the  American  fleet,  12; 
prudence  dictated  to  him  to 
withdraw  his  army,  13,  18  ; 
stationed  parts  of  his  army 
along  the  St.  Lawrence, 
13  ;  in  winter  quarters  at 
Quebec,  13;  criticised  by 
Lord  Germaine  and  others, 
13  ;  arrival  of  Burgoyne, 
14 ;  appointed  commander 
of  the  Canadian  depart- 
ment, 14 ;  letter  to  Lord 
Germaine,  14 ;  departure  of 
Burgoyne,  16 ;  asked  to  gar- 
rison Ticonderoga,  21-22; 
did  not  assist  Burgoyne 
in  the  campaign,  22,  27 ; 
Burgoyne  accused  of  art- 
fully supplanting  him,  68 ; 
in  command  of  the  northern 
army,  84  ;  friend  of  Gen. 
Montgomery,  icx);  at  the 
defence  of  Quebec,  102  ; 
drove  the  enemy  to  Fort 


Sorel,  103  ;  waited  for  ship, 
103-104;  treated  prisoners 
humanely,  108,  133;  en- 
couraged the  hiring  of  In- 
dians, 121;  his  orders  to 
arrest  all  rebels,  133;  on 
the  Maria,  157  ;  sent  troops 
to  Crown  Point,  162  ;  elated 
at  the  capture  of  Col. 
Waterbu'y,  163  ;  paroled 
the  prisoners,  166;  the 
Americans  impatient  for 
him  to  approach,  172  ;  close 
to  Crown  Point,  172;  did 
not  follow  the  advice  of 
Burgoyne  and  Phillips,  172  ; 
complimented  by  Bur- 
goyne, 172;  reconnoitered 
the  enemy's  lines,  174-175  ; 
his  character,  183,  184; 
criticised  for  not  taking 
Ticonderoga,  187,  188;  let- 
ters to  and  from  Germaine, 
238,  258 ;  commander-in- 
chief,  247 ;  suspected  St. 
Luc  of  treachery,  253  ; 
Burgoyne  to  notify  him  of 
the  surrender,  316;  sent 
messenger  to  England,  318; 
biographical  notice  of,  84- 
86;  mentioned,  v,  9,  38, 
69,  71,  113,  120,  123,  130, 
132,  140,  145,  157,  158,  167, 
182,  196,  197,  332,  333,  338, 
339,341,348,  349,  352. 

Carleton,  Gen.  Sir  Guy,  Let- 
ters of,  cited,  123. 

Carleton,  Lady  Maria  How- 
ard, wife  of  Gen.  Sir  Guy, 
145,  148. 

Carleton,  The,  launched,  139; 


n 


Index. 


373 


named,  145  ;  commanded 
by  Lieut.  Dacrcs,  152  • 
mentioned,  148,  151,  158, 
176. 

Carlisle,  Pa.,  Gen.  Thomp- 
son's death  at,  108. 

Carlisle,  Pa.,  Gazette,  The, 
cit"d,  127. 

Carriole,  a,  described,  180, 
181. 

Carter,  Capt.  John,  destroyed 
baggaj^e  at  Skeensborough, 
205-206;  his  spirited  con- 
duct, 223 ;  biographical  no- 
tice of,  205,  206. 

Cartier,  Capt.  Jacques,  dis- 
covered the  Island  of  Anti- 
costi,  97  ;  named  the  pres- 
ent Island  of  Orleans,  Isle 
of  Bacchus,  103  ;  his  Jour- 
nal Historique,  cited,  103. 

Caryole,  see  Carriole. 

Case,  the  Rev.  Wheeler, 
Poems  of,  cited,  320. 

Castletown,  Gen.  St.  Clair  at, 
218;  Burgoyne  issued  a 
proclamation  for  the  people 
to  send  deputies  to,  233  ; 
mentioned,  21. 

Cataracony,  de  Boucherville 
born  at,  193. 

Catherine,  Queen  of  Russia, 
refused  to  assist  George 
III.,  5,  6;  called  "Sister 
Kitty,"  6. 

Catlin,  George,  his  American 
Indians,  cited,  121. 

Cedars,  The,  84. 

Cerberus,  The,  at  Boston, 
115  ;  humorous  lines  upon, 
115. 


Ceres,  The,  commanded  by 
Dacres,  139. 

Chambersburg,  137. 

Chambly  Rapids,  151. 

Champlain,  Lake,  see  Lake 
Champlain. 

Champlain,  Samuel  de,  named 
the  Island  of  Anticosti,  97  ; 
called  the  present  Richelieu 
River  the  River  of  the  Iro- 
quois,  103 ;  named  Lake 
St.  Peters,  113;  probably 
visited  the  site  of  Ticon- 
deroga,  126-127;  named 
the  Isle-aux  Noix,  135; 
discovered  Lake  George, 
214;  his  Voyages,  cited, 
97,  113.  127. 

Charibs,  see  Caribs. 

Charlestown,  Mass.,  Col.  Nes- 
bit  at  the  burning  of, 
114. 

Charlestown,  S.  C,   195,  246. 

Charlevoix,  P.  F.  X.  de,  his 
History  of  New  France, 
cited,  97 ;  his  letters  to  the 
Duchess  de  Lesdiguires, 
cited,  103,  104. 

Chatham,  330. 

Chatham,  the  Earl  of,  de- 
nounced the  employment 
of  mercenary  troops,  7 ; 
upon  the  surrender  of  Bur- 
goyne, 65. 

Cheeseman,  134. 

Cheltenham,  death  of  Col. 
Green  at,  278, 

Cherbourg,  Gen.  Burgoyne  at 
the  attack  of,  115. 

Cheonderoga,  former  name  of 
Ticonderoga,  126. 


:'i 


™f 


turn 


374 


Index. 


Cherokees,  campaign  against 
the,  234,  310. 

Chesapeake  Bay,  Howe's  fleet 
in  the,  321. 

Chippewas,  The,  under  Lang- 
lade, 254,  255. 

Clarke,  Capt.  Sir  Francis  Carr, 
information  obtained  by, 
160,  164;  discussed  the 
merits  of  the  P.evolution 
with  Gates,  171  ;  favorite 
aid-de-camp  of  Burgoyne, 
171,  306;  killed,  160,  291, 
338 ;  succeeded  by  Maj. 
Kingston,  305  ;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  160;  men- 
tioned, 161. 

Clinton,  Francis  Fiennes, 
grandfather  of  Sir  Henry, 
246. 

Clinton,  George,  father  of  Sir 
Henry,  former  governor  of 
New  York,  246. 

Clinton,  Gen,  Sir  Henry,  in 
command  at  New  York,  25  ; 
Burgoyne  sent  a  messenger 
to  urge  him  up  the  Hudson, 
27,  28,  248,  249,  277,  279, 
346;  a  letter  from  him 
reached  Burgoyne,  32,  33  ; 
about  to  ascend  the  river, 
33 ;  a  messenger  of,  taken 
prisoner,  33;  284  ;  letters  to 
Burgoyne,  33,  34,  246,  275  ; 
letters  from  Burgoyne,   35, 

^  36,  123,  124;  captured  Forts 
Montgomery  and  Clinton, 
45,  47 ;  burned  Kingston 
and  returned  to  New  York, 
46 ;  his  progress  up  the 
Hudson  alarmed  Gates,  49 ; 


offered  to  renew  the  obliga- 
tion of  the  convention  at 
Saratoga,  59 ;  ceased  to  sup- 
ply the  convention  prison- 
ers. 62  ;  superseded  by  Gen. 
Carleton,  84 ;  in  Boston, 
155  ;  criticised  for  his  weak 
attempt  to  assist  Burgoyne, 
246 ;  reported  advance  up 
the  river,  278 ;  Burgoyne 
waited  to  hear  from  him, 
279,285,310,311,  ^12;  bio- 
graphical notice  ol,  246,  2^7; 
mentioned,  19,  314,  319, 
345 ;  his  narrative  cited, 
247 ;  his  Observations  on 
Stedman's  History  of  the 
American  War,  cited,  247. 

Clinton,  Gen.  James,  received 
an  interrupted  letter  from 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  to  Bur- 
goyne, 33,  34. 

Codfish,  strange  story  of  the, 
89-90. 

Codlands,  early  name  of  New- 
foundland, 91. 

Coffin,  Sir  Isaac,  named  the 
Bird  Islands,  92. 

Coffin's  Islands,  92. 

Cogswell,  M.,  teacher  of  Gen. 
Arnold,  146. 

Collections  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Historical  Society, 
cited,  233. 

Collections  of  the  Wisconsin 
Historical    Society,    cited, 

255. 
College     de    Louis-le-Grand, 

17- 
Collins,  Arthur,  his  Peerage, 

cited,  86. 


Index, 


375 


Colonial  History  of  New 
York,  sec  O'Callaghc'in, 
Edmund  B.,  LL.  U. 

Colors  of  the  captured  regi- 
ments said  to  have  been  left 
in  Canada,  54,  55  ;  proved 
to  be  false,  55,  56,  74,  see 
Flags. 

Congress,  The  Continental, 
Gen.  Sullivan  a  delegate  to, 
10 ;  Gen,  Gates  before,  1 70 ; 
Gens.  Schuyler  and  St. 
Clair  before,  241,  242  ;  men- 
tioned, 61,  62,  63,  99,  161, 
164,  166,  194,283,  313. 

Congress,  The,  burnt,  162; 
commanded  by  Arnold, 
163. 

Connecticut,  proposed  opera- 
tions in,  25  ;  Whitcomb  a 
native  of,  131  ;  mentioned, 
146,  162,  193. 

Connecticut,  History  of,  see 
Hollister,  G.  H. 

Connecticut,  The,  burnt,  162  ; 
commanded  by  Grant,  163. 

Connel,  Ensign  Morgan, 
wounded  and  a  prisoner, 
333;  nothing  further  known 
of  him,  336. 

Continental  army,  218,  see 
American  troops.  The,  218. 

Cooke,  Lieut.  John,  killed  at 
Freeman's  Farm,  332  ;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  332. 

Cooke,  John  Ecstcn,  his  Life 
of  Daniel  Morgan,  cited, 
271. 

Cooper,  134. 

Copenhagen,  Capt.  Blome- 
field  at  the  siege  of,  326. 


Cork,  Cove  of,  the  troops 
sailed  from,  4,  83,98,  151, 

339- 

Cornwallis,  Lord,  the  surren- 
der of,  70,  219,  247;  Gen. 
Gates  served  under,  169; 
governor  of  Halifax,  169; 
Gen.  Money  on  the  staff  of, 
290;  mentioned,  39,  195. 

Correspondence  in  the  Public 
Record  Office,  cited,  4. 

Corrica,  Capt.  Greene  in,  278. 

Cortereal,  Capt.  Gasper,  seized 
natives  for  slaves,  95. 

Coudres,  Isle  aux,  see  Isle- 
aux-Coudres. 

Council  of  Censors,  166. 

Court  and  City  Register,  cited, 
150. 

Coutty,  Samuel,  father  of 
Anne  Reynell,  339. 

Cove  of  Cork,  see  Cork,  Cove 
of. 

Coveville,  formerly  Davagot, 
297. 

Cowpens,  the  battle  of,  Col. 
Morgan  at,  271. 

Craig,  Capt.  James  H.,  cap- 
tured thirty  men  at  Sorel 
river,  126;  went  with  the 
flag  of  truce  to  the  Ameri- 
can lines,  166,  167;  took 
dispatches  to  England,  167, 
318;  prepared  a  letter  to 
Wilkinson,  310;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  166-168. 

Cream  carried  in  a  basket  and 
sold  by  weight,  180. 

Creasy,  Sir  Edward,  his  Fif- 
teen Decisive  Battles  of  the 
World,  cited,  74, 


ii    :t! 


376 


Index. 


%\ 


Crown  Point,  Arnold  and 
Sullivan  fall  back  to,  11, 
12;  Carleton  withdrew  his 
troops  from,  13,  18;  used 
as  a  hospital  and  magazine 
by  Burgoyne,  15  ;  formerly 
called  Fort  St.  Frederick, 
126;  captured  by  Gen.  Am- 
herst, 127  ;  captured  by  Col. 
Warner,  127;  Gen.  Water- 
bury  at,  163  ;  Lieut.  Digby 
at,  164;  commanded  by 
Maj.  Heartley,  165  ;  weakly 
garrisoned,  174;  feu-de- 
joy  at,  225  ;  mentioned,  21, 
117,  135,  147,  162,  177,  200. 

Crown  Pointy  name  given  by 
Gen.  Money  to  his  estate, 
290 ;  death  of  Gen.  Money 
at,  290. 

Cuba,  Capt.  Stapleton  in  the 
expedition  against,  347. 

Culbertson,  Alexander,  father 
of  Lieut,  Joseph,  137. 

Culbertson,  Lieut.  Joseph, 
murdered  by  Indians,  135, 
136  ;  biographical  notice  of, 

137,   138- 
Culbertson,  Margaret,  mother 

of  Lieut.  Joseph,  137. 
Culbertson,    Robert,    in    the 

Pennsylvania  line,  137. 
Culbertson,    Samuel,    in    the 

Pennsylvania  line,  137. 
Culbertson's  Row,  137. 
Cullen,  Lieut.  Wm.,  wounded, 

331  ;  biographical  notice  of, 

332. 
Cumberland  Bay,  Americans 

cruising  in  the,  177. 
Cumberland  county,  137. 


Cumberland  valley,  126. 
Curray,  see  Currie. 
Currie,  Lieut.  Samuel,  killed, 
334  ;  biographical  notice  of, 

336. 
Curwen,  Samuel,  his  Journals 
and  Letters,  cited,  171. 

Dacres,  Lieut.  James  Richard, 
commanded  the  Carleton, 
139,  152;  Longcroft  served 
under,  151;  biographical 
notice,  139. 

Danterroche,  Ensign  Henry, 
a  prisoner,  337;  biograph- 
ical notice,  346. 

Davacot,  see  Dovegat. 

Davagot,  sec  Dovegat. 

Davis,  commander  of  the  Lee, 
164. 

Dearlaorn,  Lieut.-Col.  Henry, 
leader  r^  the  New  England 
troops,  38,  39  ;  biographical 
notice  of,  38,  39. 

Deane,  Charles,  LL.  D.,  his 
Lieut. -Gen.  John  Burgoyne 
and  the  Convention  of  Sara- 
toga, cited,  57. 

De  Antroch,  sec  Danterroche. 

Deer,  an  abundance  of,  154, 
165. 

De  Fermoy,  Gen.  Roche,  20. 

Delaware  river,  The,  161,  282, 

319.  321. 

Demarara,  Kingston,  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of,  306. 

Denmark,  95. 

Denys,  Nicholas,  a  map  of, 
cited,  92. 

De  Peyster,  Gen.  John  Watts, 
cited,  20. 


"^mmtmm 


Index. 


Z77 


Derby,  the  Earl  of,  a  daughter 
of,  married  Gen.  Bvirgoyne, 
115. 

Destruction  Bay,  176. 

De  Warrville,  J.  P.  Brissot, 
visited  Gen.  Heath,  62  ;  his 
New  Travels  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  cited, 
62. 

Dickenson, ,  commanded 

the  Enterprise,  164. 

Dieskau,  Baron  Ludwig  Au- 
gust, at  Fort  Miller,  244. 

Digby,  Lieutenant  William, 
but  little  known  of  his  per- 
sonal history,  vi,  1-2;  en- 
tered the  British  army,  vi ; 
in  Ireland,  vi,  2,  3  ;  at  Que- 
bec, vi,  104;  embarked  for 
America,  vi ;  at  Chambly, 
vi,  118;  followed  the  for- 
tunes of  Burgoyne  and  pa- 
roled at  Cambridge,  vii ; 
on  duty  in  Canada,  vii,  2  ; 
retired  from  the  service,  vii ; 
anchored  off  the  Isle-aux- 
Coudres,  102  ;  at  the  Island 
of  Orleans,  103 ;  at  Point 
Neuf,  105 ;  at  Trois  Riv- 
ieres, 106;  lost  a  particu- 
lar friend,  109;  at  Lake  St. 
Peter,  113;  before  Fort 
Sorel,  113;  at  St.  Denis, 
116;  at  Belloeville,  1 18  ;  at 
Montreal,  120;  at  St.  Johns,  j 
135,  139;  sick,  148-149;  his  i 
brother-in-law,  149;  wentlo  | 
Riviere-la-Cole,  150;  on  the  ' 
Loyal  Convert,  1 50,  1 52  ;  at 
Point  au  Fer,  152  ;  ordered 
to   Crown    Point,    162 ;    at 

48 


Crown  Point,  164;  at  Riv- 
iere Sable,  173;  bound  for 
Canada,  176;  for  St.  Johns, 
177-178;  at  Bouquet  river, 
200 ;  before  Ticonderoga, 
206;  on  Mount  Independ- 
ence, 208-210;  marched 
toward  Skeensborough, 
219-220;  delayed,  226;  de- 
parted for  Fort  Anne,  233  ; 
left  Fort  Anne,  239 ;  near 
Fort  Edward,  240;  at  Fort 
Miller,  244;  ordered  back, 
245  ;  at  Batten  Kill,  249, 
253  ;  crossed  the  Hudson, 
267 ;  foraging,  286 ;  in  the 
retreat,  293 ;  at  Dovegat, 
297  ;  on  the  heights  of  Sara- 
toga, 300  ;  for  Fort  Edward, 
300 ;  baggage  destroyed, 
301  ;  at  the  burning  of 
Schuyler's  house,  301-302  ; 
surrender  of  the  army,  310- 
317;  prepared  to  march, 
317;    mentioned,    20,    116, 

I33»  135.  150.  15S,  161,  181, 
184,  192,217,  234,  250,  275, 
277,278,283,  284,  290,  301, 
317,  340,361. 

Documents  relating  to  the 
Colonial  History  of  New 
York,  see  O'Callaghan,  Ed- 
mund B.,  LL.  D. 

Don,  Lieut,  John,  wounded, 
344  ;  biographical  notice  of, 

348. 

Dorchester,  the  Baron  of, 
86. 

Douglas,  Sir  Charles,  com- 
mander of  the  Isis,  104; 
biographical  notice  of,  104. 


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Index. 


Douglas,  T.icut.  James,  killed, 
33O)  335  ;  bioj^iaphical  no- 
tice of",  330. 

Doulin,  see  Dowling. 

Dovegat,  Gen.  Burgoyne  at, 
29  ;  the  retreat  to,  41  ;  army 
moved  from, 42;  lines  formed 
at,  297  ;  now  called  Cove- 
ville,  297 ;  origin  of  the 
name,  297 ;  long  halt  at, 
302. 

Dowlin,  see  Dowling. 

Dowling,  Lieutenant  James, 
wounded,  332,  333;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  335. 

Dowling,  Captain  Richard, 
wounded,  332,  334;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  334. 

Doyle,  Lieutenant  William, 
wounded,  335  ;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  338-339. 

Dublin,  Captain  Henry  Pilot, 
town  major  of,  150;  men- 
tioned, 49,  221,  222. 

Duer's  house,  the  head-quar- 
ters of  Burgoyne,  244,  337. 

Duncan,  F.,  his  History  of  the 
Royal  Artillery,  cited,  175, 
206,  207,  287,  325,  327,  328, 

329- 

Dundas,  Col.  Francis,  accom- 
panied Arnold,  246. 

Dunford,  see  Durnford. 

Dunlap,  William,  his  History 
of  New  York,  cited,  247. 

Dunmore,  John  Murray,  Earl 
of,  319. 

Durham,  N.  H.,  10. 

Durnford,  Captain  Andrew,  a 
prisoner,  338  ;  biographical 
notice  of,  346. 


Edinburgh,  Captain  Pringle 
died  at,  148;  Gen.  St.  Clair 
born  in,  218. 

Egle,  William  H.,  M.  D.,  vi, 
127,  138. 

Eighth  Foot,  344. 

Eighty- fifth  Foot,  353. 

Eighty-first  Foot,  351. 

Eighty-fourth  Foot,  331. 

Eighty-second  Foot,  167. 

Eighty-sixth  Foot,  306. 

Eighty-third  Foot,  348,  349. 

Eleventh  Dragoons,  115. 

Eleventh  Foot,  196,  305. 

Eleventh  Regiment  of  Massa- 
chusetts,  211. 

England,  the  people  opposed 
to  hiring  German  troops,  6- 
7;  Burgoyne  sailed  for,  13- 
14,  59  ;  the  disaster  of  l^ur- 
goyne  not  unexi)ected  in, 
64-66 ;  Capt.  Craig  took 
dispatches  to,  167;  the  re- 
ception of  the  news  of  Bur- 
goyne's  surrender  in,  318- 
319;  mentioned,  5,  14,  51, 
52,  56,  65,  87,  95,  103,  115, 
124,  139,  140,  147,  148,  149, 
150,  151,  173,  174,  194,  199, 
203,  207,  222,  223,  226,  234, 
278,290,310,  322,  325,  334, 
336,346,349,  350,  351,  353. 

England,  Histories  of,  see 
Adolphus,  John  ;  Knight, 
Charles,  and  Mahon,  Lord. 

England,  Lieut.  Poole,  a  pris- 
oner, 345  ;  biographical  no- 
tice of,  349. 
Enterprise,  The,  commanded 
by  Dickenson,  104 ;  men- 
tioned, 144,  162. 


Index. 


379 


Eskmouth,  Scotland,  104. 

Esquimaux,  The,  in  New- 
foundland, 93  ;  ori<^inofthc 
name  of,  93  ;  ate  raw  flesh, 
93  ;  described,  93-96. 

Etiquette,  a  poem,   313,   314. 

Europe,  the  eyes  of,  on  Hur- 
goyne's  army,  259;  men- 
tioned, 51. 

Exeter,  N.  IL,  282. 

Expedition  of  Lieut.-Coloncl 
l^arry  St.  Leger,  sec  Stone, 
Col.  William  L, 

Falkirk,  the  battle  of,  234. 

Farmington,  Mass.,  General 
Learned  born  at,  282. 

Farquar,  Captain  William, 
wounded,  332 ;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  335. 

Featherstone,  Lieut.  William, 
wounded,  344;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  349. 

Federal  Constitution,  The,  62. 

Felinghausen,  Gen.  Money  at 
the  battle  of,  290. 

Ferdinand,  Prince,  174,  334. 

Ferentes  d'Onore,  battle  of, 
Howarth  at  the,  328. 

Ferguson,  Col.,  213. 

Fetherston,  sec  Featherstone. 

Field  Book  of  the  Revolution, 
see  Lossing,  Benson  J. 

Fielding,  Adjutant  Isaac, 
wounded,  349;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  353. 

Fifteen  Decisive  Battles  of 
the  World,  see  Creasy,  Sir 
Edward. 

Fifteenth  Foot,  The,  198. 

Fifty-fifth  Foot,  The,  86. 


Fifty-sixth  Foot,  The,  335  ; 
Historical  Record  of,  cited, 

325. 
Fifty-third    Grenadiers,    The, 

290. 

Fifty-third  Regiment  of  Foot, 
The,  Lieut.  Digby  in,  vi  ; 
organized,  2  ;  uniform  of,  2  ; 
in  Ireland,  vi,  2  ;  ordered  to 
Canada,  vi,  2  ;  Capt.  Scott 
a  member  of,  36  ;  a  portion 
of  it  at  the  capture  oi  Ti- 
conderoga,  37,  124;  men- 
tioned, 86,  109,  no,  181, 
196,203,221,245,277,  332; 
Historical  Record  of,  cited, 
^  203,  245,  332. 

Filbert  Island,  named  by  Car- 
tier,  98,  see  Isle-aux-Cou- 
dres. 

First  Foot,  The,  128,  234; 
Historical  Record  of,  cited, 

,.235., 
Fish  Creek,  42. 

Fish  Kiln,  298,  299. 

Fitch,  Asa,  his  Survey  of 
W^ashington  County,  cited, 
217. 

Fitzgerald,  Adjutant  George 
Tobias,  killed,  336 ;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  344. 

Fitzmaurice,  Lord  Edmond, 
his  Life  of  Willinm,  Earl  of 
Shelburne,  cited,  65,  70, 
238,  239,  322. 

Flag,  The  American,  Sir  Fran- 
cis Clarke  on,  160-161  ;  de- 
scribed, 161,  234-235;  ac- 
count of,  161  ;  different 
ones,  161  ;  materials  used 
in   making    one    for    Fort 


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380 


Index. 


Schuyler,  161  ;  of  Liberty, 
201,  see  Colors. 

Fleet,  The  American,  on  Lake 
Champlain,  162-164. 

Fleet,  The  English,  on  Lake 
Champlain,  152. 

Florida,  ceded  to  Great  Brit- 
ain, 149,  347;  Capt.  Greene 
in,  278 ;  Lieut.  Wright  in, 
329;  Capt.  Harris  in,  331  ; 
Lieut.  Currie  in,  336;  Capt. 
Stapleton  in,  347 ;  Gen. 
Whitemorc  in,  347. 

Fonblanquc,  Edward  Barring- 
ton  dc,  his  Life  of  Sir  John 
Burgoyne,  cited,  7,  13,  33, 
42,  74,  83,  112,  116,  124, 
168,  171,  204,  284,  298, 
299. 

Fort  Anne,  the  Americans  re- 
tired to,  221  ;  built  by  Col. 
Nickerson,  221  ;  described, 
221  ;  Captain  Montgomery 
wounded  and  taken  a  pris- 
oner at,  221  ;  Col.  Hill  be- 
fore, 224  ;  destroyed,  224  ; 
the  victory  at,  of  no  great 
benefit  to  the  English,  227  ; 
the  army  advanced  toward, 
233;  Lieut.  Westropp killed 
at,  234 ;  march  from,  239 ; 
Lieut.  Stevelly  wounded  at, 
352  ;  Lieuts.  Fielding  and 
Murray  wounded  at,  353. 

Fort  Arnold,  60. 

Fort  Chamble,  see  Fort  Cham- 
bly. 

Fort  ChamMy,  Gen.  Ikirgoyne 
to  command  the  expedition 
against,  114-116;  described, 
116,  128;  captured  by  the 


Americans,  116, 128;  retreat 
from,  118;  mentioned,  vi, 
II,  117,  120,  129,  131. 

Fort  Cumberland,  Gen.  Gates 
at,  169. 

Fort  Du  Quesne,  Sutherland 
at  the  surrender  of,  310. 

Fort  Edward,  Gen.  Schuyler 
at,  19;  in  possession  of  the 
Americans,  44,  46;  army 
encamped  near,  240;  the 
retreat  from,  242 ;  men- 
tioned, 25,  37,  44,  228,  233, 
259,  262,  292,  297,  300,  302, 

337.  354- 
Fort    Frederic,   see    Fort    St. 

Frederic. 

Fort  George,  account  of,  227- 
228  ;  erected  by  Montcalm, 
227 ;  named  for  the  Duke 
of  York,  228 ;  heavy  bag- 
gage at,  240,  247;  a  regi- 
ment ordered  back  to,  245  ; 
mentioned,  39,  256,  302, 

Fortieth  Foot,  The,  210,  211. 

Fort  Lidependence,  General 
Riedesel  before,  19;  men- 
tioned, 205,  214,  see  Mount 
Independence. 

Fort  la  Mothe,  formerly  Fort 
St.  Anne,  143. 

Fort  Ligonier,  Gen.  St.  Clair 
in  command  at,  218. 

Fort  Miller,  evacuated  by  the 
Americans,  2z^4 ;  account 
of,  244 ;  denominated  as 
Duer's  house,  244;  Gen. 
Burgoyne  at,  249. 

Fort  Montgomery  captured 
by  Gen.  Clinton,  124;  men- 
tioned, 33,  36. 


\ 


P 


Index. 


381 


1 


'^;X 


Fort  St.  Anne,  formerly  called 
Fort  la  Mothe,  143. 

Fort  St.  P'redcric,  former  name 
of  Crown  Point,  126,  135. 

Fort  St.  Johns,  Gen.  Sullivan 
driven  to,  10,  118;  Gen. 
Ikirgoyne's  departure  from, 
16;  Jiurgoyne's  expedition 
against,  114-116;  captured 
by  the  Americans,  1 16;  first 
erected  by  Montcalm,  116; 
vessels  built  at,  120;  cap- 
tured, 128;  Lieut.  Digby 
at,  135,  139;  troops  assem- 
bled at,  188;  captured  by 
Gen.  Montgomery,  300 ; 
mentioned,  ir,  13,  125,  129, 
F31,  140,  149,  154,  170,  173, 
176,  177,  201. 

Fort  St.  Louis,  the  present 
site  of  Fort  Chambly,  1 16. 

Fort  St.  Phillip,  333. 

Fort  Schuyler,  St.  Leger  sent 
to,  18  ;  Gen.  Gansevoort  at, 
19;  St.  Leger  at,  23,  iCi  ; 
flag  made  for,  161  ;  formerly 
Fort  Stanwix,  258. 

P^ort  Sorel,  origin  of  the  name, 
103  ;  the  Americans  driven 
to,  103,  114;  Lieut.  Digby 
at,  113. 

Fort  Stanwix,  unsuccessful 
expedition  to,  257;  ac- 
count of,  257  258  ;  repaired 
by  Gen.  Schuyler,  258. 

Fort  Ticonderoga,  see  Ticon- 
deroga. 

Fort  William,  Gen.  Burgoyne 
governor  of,  189,  229. 

Fort  William  Henry,  the  de- 
struction of,  227. 


Forty-eighth  Foot,  The,  256, 

257. 
Forty-fifth  Foot,  The,  123. 
P^orty-fourth  Foot,  The,  221. 
Forty-second  Foot,  The,  86. 
P\)rty-seventh  P'oot,  The,  1 14, 
^  144,  182,  300,  330,  335,  349. 
P^orty-seventh  P\)ot,  The  His- 
torical Record  of,  cited,  1 82, 

335- 
P\orty-seventh  Light  Infantry, 

166. 

P^jrty-scventh  Regiment, The, 
144,  196,  221. 

P\)rty-sixth  P'oot,  The,  155, 
196. 

i'\)rty-sixth  Foot,  The  His- 
torical Record  of,  cited,  i  56. 

P'oster's  I'eerage  and  Orders 
of  Knighthood,  cited,  87. 

P'ourth  F'oot,  The,  1 14,  344. 

l''ox,  Charles  James,  on  Lord 
Germaine,  238 ;  eulogized 
Gen.  Montgomery,  loi. 

Fox,  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Ste- 
phen, 338. 

P'ox,  Stephen,  father  of  Ste- 
phen    Digby    Strangways, 

338. 
Poxes,  The,  under  Langlade, 

254-  255. 
PVance,  the  partial  sympathy 
of,   for  the  Americans,   7 ; 
mentioned,    95,    207,    334, 

348. 
PVancis    Ebenezer,    father  of 

Col.  Ebenezer,  21 1. 
Francis,  Col.  Ebenezer,  killed, 

211;  biographical  notice  of, 

211-213;    mentioned,    329, 

332,  350- 


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382 


Index. 


..  If 


Francis,  Rachel  Whitemore, 
mother  of  Col.  Ebenezer, 
211;  her  grief  at  the  loss  of 
her  son,  212,  213. 

Fraser,  Lieut.  Alexander,  sent 
to  head  off  the  Americans, 
107;  sent  to  reconnoiter, 
122  ;  biographical  notice  of, 
122-123. 

Fraser,  Gen.  Simon,  took  pos- 
session of  Mount  Hope, 
19,  202  ;  succeeded  by  Hal- 
carres,  87 ;  Riedesel  sent 
to  help  him,  217;  sent  his 
prisoners  to  Ticonderoga, 
219;  praised  by  Ikirgoyne, 
224,  225;  bravery  of,  274; 
advised  Burgoyne  to  ad- 
vance, 275  ;  wounded,  287- 
290;  died,  293-296;  burial 
of,  296;  mentioned,  16,  30, 
31,  32,  37,  38,  39,  40,  41, 
III,  122,  140,  161,  177,  193, 
207,  208,  220,  223,  224,  235, 
236,251,329,  344. 

Fraser,Lieut.-Col.  Simeon,had 
charge  of  the  troops  that 
sailed  from  Cork,  4  ;  sent  to 
reconnoiter,  142  ;  returned 
with  but  little  information, 
143;  took  a  prisoner,  174; 
killed,  335;  biographical  no- 
tice of,  83  ;  mentioned,  109, 
193.  300,  352. 

Frazier,  see  Fraser. 

Frederick,  Prince,  197. 

Freeman's  Farm,  the  battle 
of,  Lieut.  Scott  at,  123; 
Lieut.  Craig  wounded  at, 
167;  Lieut.  Lucas  killed 
at,  332  ;  Lieut.  Cooke  killed 


at,  332 ;  Captain  Lind 
wounded  at,  332,  333  ;  Capt. 
Stanley  wounded  at,  332, 
335  ;  Maj.  Agnew  wounded 
at,  337;  Ensign  Taylor 
killed  at,  342  ;  Capt.  Swet- 
tenham  wounded  at,  347 ; 
Capt.  Ramsey  wounded  at, 
348;  Lieut.  Prince  wounded 
at,  352;  Capt.  Jones  killed 
at,  325  ;  mentioned,  30. 

French,  declaration  of  war  of 
the,  322. 

Frothingham,  the  Hon.  Rich- 
ard, his  Siege  of  Boston, 
cited,  114,  156,  247. 

Gage,  Gen.  Thomas,  charac- 
terized the  Americans  as 
lawless,    3-4 ;     mentioned, 

318,  319- 

Gansevoort,  Gen.  Peter,  had 
a  flag  mr'le  for  Fort  Schuy- 
ler, 19,  161  ;  biographical 
notice  of,  19. 

Gardner,  Capt.  Henry  Faring- 
ton,  sent  with  dispatches  to 
England,  222,  223,  226; 
biographical  notice  of,  222- 
223. 

Garneau,  Francis  Xavier,  his 
History  of  Canada,  cited, 
85,  86,  184,  254. 

Gates,  Gen.  Horatio,  super- 
seded Gen.  Schuyler,  29, 
242  ;  tardy  with  reinforce- 
ments, 30 ;  refused  to  make 
a  night  attack,  32,  291  ;  en- 
camped south  of  Fish  Creek, 
44 ;  Burgoyne  proposed  a 
treaty  of  surrender,  47,  57- 


\ 


Index, 


I'^l 


58,    259,   306;    accused   by 
Burgoyne  of  sending  part 
of  his  troops  to  Albany,  47, 
48 ;   his  army  in   order  of 
battle,   48 ;    treaty    signed, 
48  ;  alarmed  by  information 
of   Clinton's    progress,   49, 
50;  blamed  for  too  liberal 
concessions,    50;    the    sur- 
render, 50,  51;  delayed  in 
sending  information  of  the 
surrender   to    Washington, 
50-5 1  ;  remarks  of  La  Fay- 
ette concerning,  51  ;  asked 
concerning     the      military 
chests  and  colors,    54-55  ; 
carelessness    in   regard    to 
the  surrender,   55-56;    of- 
fered the  command  at  Ti- 
conderoga,    168,  204,  218; 
confidence  of  Congress  in, 
168,  169;  letter  to  General 
Schuyler,    172  ;    letters   to 
and    from    Burgoyne,    237, 
7  '--265,  296,  306,  308,  309  ; 
met  Madam  Riedesel,  242  ; 
defended  his  soldiers  from 
the     accusation     of    inhu- 
manity,  261-263 ;    accused 
Burgoyne  of  employing  In- 
dians,   262 ;     proposed    to 
Morgan  to  deser*^  Washing- 
ton, 271  ;  his  re    --nge,  271  ; 
compared  to  Burgoyne,  274; 
orders    of,    281-284;     iriet 
Lady      Acland,     298-299 ; 
sent  message  to  Burgoyne 
by  Maj.  Kingston,  307  ;  an- 
noyed by  the  delay,  311; 
articles  of  convention  given 
in  full,  312-317;  met  Bur- 


goyne, 49,  320-321  :  returns 
of  his  army,  354  ;  biograph 
ical  notice  of,  168-17 1  '• 
mentioned,  37,  70,  269,  281, 
301,307,309,  311,  315,  316, 
319,323,342. 

Gentleman's    Magazine,  The, 
cited,  104,  199,  333. 

George  I,  grandfather  of  Sir 
William  Howe,  155. 

George  III,  determined  to 
chastise  the  colonists,  5  ; 
applied  for  help  to  Cathe- 
rine of  Russia,  Germany  and 
Holland,  5,6;  bitter  feeling 
against,  6,  7  ;  elated  at  the 
capture  of  Ticonderoga,  21  ; 
hired  German  troops,  no; 
fell  into  agonies  at  hearing 
of  the  surrender  of  Bur- 
goyne, 318;  mentioned, 
199,  229,  322. 

George  III,  Journal  of  the 
Reign  of,  see  Walpole, 
Horace. 

Georgia,  Capt.   Durnford   in, 

346. 

Georgian  Era,  The,  cited,  290. 

Germaine,  Lord  George,  des- 
ignated Washington  as 
"  Mr.,"  3  ;  criticised  Gen. 
Carleton,  13;  letters  to 
Carleton,  14,  238,  258  ; 
elated  at  the  capture  of 
Ticonderoga,  20,  21  ;  letters 
from  Burgoyne,  21,  24-27, 
323  ;  said  Gen.  Howe  had 
ruined  his  plans,  64-65  ; 
assailed,  66  ;  hostile  to  Bur- 
goyne, 66-67 ;  published  a 
pamphlet  against  Burgoyne, 


irai 


I' 


•  V 


HI 


::t 


1   ! 


rs; 


384 


Index. 


6c) ;  the  sacrifice  of  Rur- 
goync's  army  due  to  a  blun- 
der of,  70,  322  ;  c)bli<Tcd  to 
retire  from  office,  70 ;  the 
capture  of  Waterbury  re- 
ported to,  163  ;  minister 
for  American  affairs,  237 ; 
character  of,  238  ;  advised 
the  employment  of  Indians, 
237-238  ;  compared  to  Dr. 
Sangrado,  238  ;  conduct  of, 
in  Germany,  239  ;  detested 
by  his  associates,  239 ;  Lut- 
trell  and  Wilkes  on,  239; 
planned  the  campaign,  258  ; 
mentioned,  65,  314. 

German  troops,  the,  hired  to 
assist  George  III,  6;  the 
people  of  England  opposed 
to  hiring  them,  6,  7  ;  feeling 
of  the  Americans  against, 
iio-lii;  feeling  in  Ger- 
many against,  III;  behavior 
of,  250-252  ;  deserted,  256  ; 
equipments  of,  260;  consid- 
eration of  their  ability,  288- 
289,  303;  not  co'vardly,  289. 

Germantown,  the  battle  of, 
Gen.  Sullivan  at,  10. 

Germany,  asked  to  assist 
George  III,  6,  7  ;  Gen.  Phil- 
lips won  distinction  in,  1 74 ; 
Lord  Germaine  in,  239;  Maj. 
Agnew  in,  337-;  mentioned, 
95,  122,  123,  334,  see  Ger- 
man troops,  the. 

Gibraltar,  Lieut.  Scott  in,  123  ; 
Capt.  Craig  born  at,  166; 
Capt.  Scott  in,  181  ;  Col. 
Wright  at,  245  ;  Captain 
Green  born  in,   277 ;  Maj. 


Williams  at,  287;  Capt. 
Dowling  at,  334;  Capt. 
Stanley  at,  335  ;  Capt.  Far- 
quar  at,  335  ;  Maj.  Agnew 

at,  337- 

Glover,  Gen.  John,  advanced 
monc\'  to  Hurgoyne,  59; 
biogniphical  notice  of,  59- 
61.^ 

Glover's  Marblehead  Regi- 
ment, 59-60. 

Gondola,  the,  used  by  Carle- 
ton,  described,  1 1. 

Gordon,  Gen.  Patrick,  shot  by 
Whitconib,  128-131  ;  indig- 
nation in  the  British  army 
concerning  his  death,  130, 
132;  feeling  in  the  Ameri- 
can  army  concerning,  130; 
Lieut.  Curric  served  under, 
336  ;  biographical  notice  of, 
128-130;  mentioned,  131. 

Grafton,  The,  151. 

Graham,  James,  his  Life  of 
Col.  Daniel  Morgan,  cited, 
207,  271. 

Grahame,  the  Rev.  James,  his 
Ilistory  of  the  United 
States,  cited,  in. 

Grampus,  The,  59. 

Grant,  Cornet  James,  his  un- 
successful attempt  to  reach 
Gen. Clinton,  248,  346;  taken 
prisoner,  339;  biographical 
notices  of,  248,  346. 

Grant,  Maj.  Robert,  killed, 
210,  211;  biographical  no- 
tice of,  210-21 1;  mentioned, 

335.  337- 
Grant,    ,   commander   of 

the  Connecticut,  163. 


P 


Index. 


385 


« 


I 


Great  IVitain,  Florida  ceded 
to,  104,  347;  Louisiana 
ceded  to,  351  ;  mentioned, 
vi,  119,  176,  178,  188,  189, 
191,  199,  259,  313. 

Green,  Captain  Charles, 
wounded,  277,  278 ;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  277- 
278. 

Greene,  Gen,  Nathaniel,  St. 
Clair  served  under,  219; 
mentioned,  10. 

Greenland,  95. 

Grenada,  Capt.  Green  coast 
governor  of,  278. 

Granville,  Lord,  313. 

Grimes,  ,  commander  of 

the  Jersey,  163. 

Grout,  Abigail,  married  Col. 
Hale,  215. 

Hadden,  Gen.  James  M.,  his 
Journal  and  Orderly  Books, 
see  Rogers,  Col.  Horatio. 

Haggart,  Lieut.  James,  killed, 
342  ;  biographical  notice  of, 

347- 

Haight   Hall,  death  of   Gen. 

"'  Carleton  at,  87. 

Hakluyt,  Richard,  his  Voy- 
ages, cited,  97. 

Halcyon  Days  of  Old  Eng- 
land, The,  319. 

Haldemann,  Gen.  Sir  Fred- 
erick, lost  Ticonderoga,  127. 

Hale,  Moses,  father  of  Col. 
Nathan,  215. 

Hale,  Col.  Nathan,  taken  pris- 
oner, 215  ;  biographical  no- 
tice of,  215-216. 

Half  Moon,  the  camp  at,  266. 

49 


Haliburton,  Thomas  C,  his 
History  of  Nova  Scotia, 
cited,  137. 

Halifax,  German  colors  sent 
to,  55  ;  Lord  Cornvvallis 
governor  of,  169;  men- 
tioned, 137,  167,  182. 

Hall,  Hiland,  LL.D.,  his  His- 
tory of  Vermont,  cited,  194. 

Hamilton,  Gen.  James  Inglis, 
proposed  exchange  of,  108  ; 
biographical  notice  of,  196, 
197;  mentioned,  337. 

Hampshire  Grants,  the,  24. 

Hampstead,  N.  H.,  Col.  Hale 
born  at,  215. 

Hampton,  N.  H.,  38. 

Hancock,  John,  85. 

Harnage,  Major  Henry, 
wounded,  337,  340,  341  ; 
biographical  notice  of,  344- 
345  ;  mentioned,  272,  294, 
296. 

Harnage,  Mrs.,  339. 

Harris,  Capt.  John  Adolphus, 
wounded,  331  ;  biographical 
notice  of,  331-332. 

Harrisburg,  Va.,  vi,  127. 

Hartford,  Conn.,  300. 

Hartley,  Maj.  Thomas,  in 
command  at  Crown  Point, 
165;  accused  of  cruelty,  172; 
biographical  notice  of,  165- 
166 ;  mentioned,  138. 

Harvey,  Lieutenant  Stephen, 
killed,  336;  biographical  no- 
tice of,  340-341. 

Harvey,  see  also  Hervey. 

Havana,  Ligonier  in  the  expe- 
dition against,  234;  Suth- 
t  erland    in    the    expedition 


386 


Index. 


against,  310;  Hloincfickl  at 
the  capture  of,  326;  Harris 
served  in,  331  ;  mentioned, 

155. 
Ma\rc   dc  Grace,   lilomefield 

at  the  bombardment  of,  326. 

Havvley,  commander  of  the 
Royal  Savage,  163. 

Hazel  nuts  in  abundance,  98. 

Heartley,  sec  Hartley. 

Heath,  Gen.  William,  urged 
the  hasty  removal  of  the 
British  convention  prisoners 
from  Boston,  51-52  ;  letters 
from  Washington  to,  52,108; 
complicated  affairs  concern- 
ing furnishing  rations  to  the 
troops,  53  ;  confined  Gen. 
Phillips  to  the  limits  of  his 
house  and  garden,  175  ;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  61-62  ; 
the  Memoirs  of,   cited,  62, 

175. 
Heights  of  Abraham,  the,  St. 
Clair  at,   218;    mentioned, 

84.    , 

Hendricks,  734. 

Henry,  John  Joseph,  his  Cam- 
paign against  Quebec,  cited, 
loi,  108,  134. 

Henry,  Patrick,  a  letter  of, 
cited,  51. 

Henry,  The,  missing,  91. 

Herriot,  George,  his  Travels 
through  Canada,  cited,  90. 

Hervey,  Earl,  General  Bur- 
goyne's  letter  to,  cited,  204. 

Hervey,  Ensign  George, 
wounded,  337 ;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  345  ;  men- 
tioned, 272.  ^ 


Hesse  Hanan  Regiment,  The 
197. 

Hewitt's  Tavern,  247. 

Higby,  Dr.  Moses,  34. 

Hill,  Lieut.-Col.  John,  the 
colors  of  his  regiment  pre- 
sented to  the  king,  56  ;  be- 
fore Fort  Anne,  224;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  224, 
225. 

Hinton,  J.  H.,  his  History  of 
the    United    .States,    cited, 

127,  137- 
Historical      Magazine,      1  he, 

cited,  175.  299. 
Historical     Record     of     the 

Fifty-sixth       Foot,      The, 

cited,  335. 
Historical     Record     of     the 

Fifty-third  Foot,  The,  cited, 

2,  203,  245,  332. 
Historical  Record  of  the  First 

P'oot,  The,  cited,  235. 
Historical     Record     of     the 

Forty-seventh    Foot,    The, 

cited,  182,  335. 
Historical     Record     of     the 

Forty-sixth      P'oot,      The, 

cited,  156. 
Historical     Record     of     the 

Ninth  Foot,  The,  cited,  56, 

221,222,225,  235,  329,  347. 
Historical     Record     of     the 

Sixty-second     Foot,     The, 

cited,  330,  344. 
Historical     Record     of     the 

Thirty-first      Foot,      The, 
I      cited,  150. 
!  Historical     Record     of     the 

Thirty-fourth    Foot,    The, 

cited,  332,  333. 


hide: 


X. 


387 


Historical  Record  of  the 
Thirty  thinl  Foot,  The, 
cited,  336, 

Historical  Record  of  the 
Twentieth  Foot,  The,  cited, 

333.  334. 
Historical     Record     of     the 

Twenty-first     Foot,      The, 

cited,  312,  336,  349. 

Historical  Record  of  tlie 
Twenty-fourth  Foot,  The, 
cited,  337,  338. 

Historical  Record  of  the 
Twenty-ninth  l'\)ot.  The, 
cited,  330. 

History  of  England,  The,  see 
Adolphus,  John  ;  Knight, 
Charles,  and  Mahon,  Lord. 

History  of  the  Siege  of  Bos- 
ton, The,  see  Frothingham, 
Richard. 

History  of  the  United  States, 
see  Graham,  the  Rev. 
James. 

Hodgson,  Maj.-Gen.,  at  Belle 
Isle,  207. 

Holland  refused  to  assist 
George  HI,  6. 

Hollister,  G.  H.,  his  History 
of  Connecticut,  cited,  86. 

Hope,  The,  bound  for  Eng- 
land, 103. 

Hopkins,  Commodore  Esek, 
sailed  for  the  Delaware, 
161  ;  displayed  the  rattle- 
snake flag  on  his  vessel, 
161. 

Horner,  Elizabeth,  married 
Stephen  Fox,  338. 

Horner,Thomas  Strangeways, 
338. 


Houghton,  Lieut.  Charles, 
death  of,  109;  biographical 
notice  of,  109. 

Houghton,  Lieut.  Richard, 
killed,  202  ;  biographical 
notice  of,  202-203. 

Howarth,  Lieut.  Edward, 
wounded,  325;  biographical 
notice  of,  327-328. 

Howe,  General  Lord  George 
Augustus,  fell  at  Tico'^de- 
roga,  156,  241:,  258;  suc- 
ceeded b}'  his  brother 
Richard,  156;  ;i  friend 
of  (ien.  Schuyler,  [56, 
241. 

Howe,  Gen.  Lord  Richard, 
death  of,  156;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  156;  men- 
tioned, 319;  Narrative 
of  his  Transactions,  cited, 
322. 

Howe,  Gen.  Sir  William,  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  Wash- 
ington as  "  Mr.,"  3  ;  obliged 
to  recognize  Washington 
with  his  appropriate  title, 
3;  at  New  York,  19;  to 
meet  Ikirgoyne  at  Albany, 
19,24,  26,^64,  65,  188;  pre- 
pared an  expedition  to  Phil- 
adelphia, 19,  25  ;  message 
from  him  intercepted,  25  ; 
Burgoyne  waited  to  hear 
from  him,  26,  258  ;  failed  to 
send  Clinton  to  help  Bur- 
goyne, 27,  28  ;  compared  to 
Burgoyne,  72 ;  the  reason 
for  his  not  co-operating  with 
Burgoyne,  72,  321,  322  ;  un- 
fairly treated,  74;  his  char- 


)   1 


1 


■if' 


k 


If 


'^ 


388 


Index. 


acter,  74-75  ;  bad  news 
from,  155;  commander  in 
chief,  187,  246;  with  the 
Southern  army,  188 ;"  su- 
perseded by  CHnton,  246; 
to  be  notified  of  Burgoyne's 
surrender,  316 ;  unpopular, 
321-322;  biographical  no- 
tice of,  155-156;  men- 
tioned, 58,  70,  115,258,313, 
318,  319;  the  Narrative 
Relating  to  his  Command 
in  America,  cited,  71, 
322. 
Hubbardton,  the  battle  of, 
Balcarres  wounded  at,  86 ; 
Craig  wounded  at,  167 ; 
Francis  wounded  at,  212; 
the  victory  of,  of  no  great 
benefit  to  the  English,  227  ; 
Jones  wounded  at,  330; 
Harris  wounded  at,  33  [  ; 
Shrimpton  wounded  at, 
350;   mentioned,  246,  284, 

331,  350. 

Hubberton,  see  Hubbardton. 

Huberton,  see  Hubbardton. 

Hudson  River,  the,  Schuyler's 
army  encamped  near,  22  ; 
forts  on,  held  by  the  Ameri- 
cans, 19 ;  crossed  by  Bur- 
goyne's troops,  28,  249,  267  ; 
Clinton  about  to  ascend,  33  ; 
recrossed  by  Burgoyne,  41, 
302  ;  the  army  near,  240 ; 
mentioned,  19,  36,  42,  45, 
47,  71,  244,  247,  252,  253, 
260,  266,  276,  277,  283,  321. 

Hudson's  Bay,  93. 

Huggart,  see  Haggart. 

Hull,  341. 


Humphreys,  134. 
Hundertmark,    George,    shot 

for  desertion,  256. 
Hunterdon  County,  N,  J,,  270. 
Huntington,  163. 
Hutchinson,  61. 
Hurons,  the,  probably  fought 

the   Iroquois  at   Ticonder- 

oga,  127. 

Inchbald,  Elizabeth,  her  The 
Heiress,  cited,  66. 

India,  Lieut.  Scott  in,  124. 

Indians,  the,  join  the  British 
army,  120-121,  228-229; 
conduct  of,  121  ;  their  ca- 
noes described,  123-125  ; 
their  cruelty  to  prisoners, 
135,136,  174,  235,  244,  262, 
280,  359;  in  ambush,  143- 
144;  their  silent  paddling, 
143  ;  their  ability  to  move 
quickly  through  thick  for- 
ests, 154;  painted  a  cap- 
tured prisoner,  174;  com- 
manded by  Francis,  193  ; 
ordered  not  to  scalp  pris- 
oners, 200,  359;  victorious 
in  small  skirmishes,  201, 
243 ;  caused  the  death  of 
Houghton,  202  ;  murdered 
Miss  McCrea,  255  ;  commit- 
ted depredations  on  the 
Tories,  236;  the  employ- 
ment of,  disliked  by  Bur- 
goyne, 237,  238-239;  em- 
ployment of,  advised  by 
Germaine,  238-239 ;  com- 
manded by  St.  Luc,  253  ; 
prepared  to  desert,  253- 
255,  284;    commanded    by 


vl 


"« 


Index. 


389 


Langlade,  254-255;  Gates' 
opinion  of,  262,  263 ;  their 
lack  of  true  courage,  280 ; 
new  recruits  of,  from  Can- 
ada, 285  ;  speech  to,  from 
I^urgoync,  356-360;  men- 
tioned, 250,  see  Savages. 

Inflexible, The,  described,  151; 
commanded  by  Schank,  152; 
mentioned,  18,  120,  152, 
201, 

Innuits,  original  name  of  the 
Esquimaux,  93. 

Ilchester,  Lord,  338. 

Iphigenie,  The,  captured  the 
Ceres,  139, 

Ireland.  Digby  on  duty  in,  vi, 
2 ;  troops  sailed  from,  3, 
9,  129;  Gen.  Thompson  a 
native  of,  107;  Capt.  Scott 
in,  181  ;  L'Estrange  in,  182; 
Capt.  Wright  in,  245  ;  Capt. 
Green  in,  278  ;  Capt.  Harris 
in,  331  ;  Lieut.  Cullen  in, 
332  ;  Lieut.  Cooke  in,  332  ; 
Col.  Lind  in,  333  ;  Capt. 
Dowling  in,  334 ;  Capt. 
Sweetenham  in,  347  ;  Capt. 
Stapleton  in,  347 ;  Lieut. 
Rowe  in,  348 ;  mentioned, 

85,  99.  329. 

Iroquois,  the,  tortured  prison- 
ers, 121  ;  probably  fought 
the  Huronsat  Ticonderoga, 
127;  speech  of  their  chief 
to  Burgoyne,  360-361  ; 
mentioned,  116. 

Iroquois  River,  the,  now 
called  the  Sorel,  103. 

Irvine,  Col.  William,  before 
Quebec,     107-108;      Capt. 


Wi^-on  served  under,  126; 
Capt.  Adams  served  under, 

Irving,  Washington,  his  Life 
of  Washington,  cited,  60, 
171. 

Isis,  The,  104. 

Island  Amott,  see  Isle  la 
Motte. 

Island  of  Coudres,  see  Isle- 
aux-Coudres. 

Island  of  Nuts,  '  '  see  Isle- 
aux-Coudres. 

Island  of  Orleans,  o.r  Isle  of 
Bacchus. 

Island  of  St.  Paul,  91. 

Isle-aux-Coudres,  so  named 
by  Carticr,  98  ;  Digby  an- 
chored off  the,  102 ;  de- 
scribed, 102 ;  earthquake 
at,   102 ;  Lieut.    Houghton 

.  killed  at  the,  109;  called 
Island  of  Nuts,  125. 

Isle  aux  Noix,  described,  134- 
135  ;  named  by  Champlain, 
135;  mentioned,  11,  13, 
117-  ^25,  137,  138,  142,  152, 
154,  170. 

Isle     d'Aix,    captured,    333, 

334- 

Isle  la  Motte,  the,  Scott 
cruising  off,  143  ;  described, 
143 ;  named  for  Sieur  la 
Mothe,  143 ;  McCoy  cap- 
tured on,  145  ;  Gen.  Fraser 
at,  178. 

Isle  of  Bacchus,  name  given 
to  the  present  Island  of 
Orleans  by  Cartier,  103. 

Isle  of  Guernsey,  Gen.  Am 
herst  governor  of,  136. 


M   t 


390 


Index. 


11; 


'  1 


Isle  of  Wi-ht,  the,  Sir  Wil- 
liam Howe,  licut.-<^overnor 

of,  155. 
Isles  aux  Oyseaux,  described, 
92. 

Jackson's  Creek,  142. 

Jamaica,  Dacres  in  command 
at,  140;  Salons  in,  353. 

Jealousy  between  the  Eng- 
lish and  German  troops, 
250. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  enter- 
tained Gen.  Phillips,  175; 
mentioned,  39. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  Life  of,  see 
Randolph,  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son. 

Jersey,  The,  captured,  162 ; 
commanded  by  Grimes,  163. 

Jessop,  sec  Jessup. 

Jessup,  Ebenezer,  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  194,  195. 

Jessup,  Edward,  biographical 
notice  of,  194-195. 

Jessup,  Prof.  lienry  G.,  195. 

Jesuits,  the,  121, 

Jogues,  Pere  Isaac,  visited  and 
named  Lake  George,  214. 

John  of  Gaunt,  granted  man- 
ors to  the  Burgoyne  family, 
114. 

Johnson,  Sir  John,  accom- 
panied St.  Leger,  257 ;  the 
inhumanity  of  his  regiment, 
257  ;  the  Orderly  Books  of, 
cited,  257. 

Johnson,  Ensign  William, 
taken  prisoner,  330;  noth- 
ing known  of  his  subsequent 
fate,  330. 


Johnson,  Gen.  William,  named 
Lake  George,  214;  at  Fort 
Miller,  244. 

Johnson's  Royal  Green's,  in- 
humanity of,  257. 

Johnston,  see  Johnson. 

Jones,  Charles  H,,  his  Con- 
quest of  Canada,  cited,  103, 
117,  137,  144,  166. 

Jones,  David,  concerned  in 
the  murder  of  Miss  McCrea, 
235  ;  to  marry  her,  236. 

Jones,  Lieut.  John,  wounded, 
329  ;  biographical  notice  of, 

329-330. 

Jones,  Capt.  Thomas,  killed, 
324;  biographical  notice  of, 
324-325. 

Jones,  Thomas,  his  History 
of  New  York,  cited,  194. 

Jordan,  John  W.,  vi. 

Jossclyn,  John,  his  Two  Voy- 
ages to  New  England, 
cited,  103. 

Journals  and  Letters  of  Cur- 
wen,  see  Curwen,  Samuel. 

Journals  and  Orderly  Books 
of  Gen.  Hadden,  see  Rog- 
ers, Col.  Horatio. 

Journals  du  Voyage  de  M. 
Saint-Luc  de  la  Corne, 
cited,  254. 

Journal  Historique,  see  Car- 
tier,  Jacques. 

Journal  of  Occurrences  Dur- 
ing the  Late  American 
War,  see  Lamb,  Sergeant 
R. 

Journal  of  the  Principal  Oc- 
currences During  the  Siege 
of  Quebec,  see  Shortt,  W.  T. 


Index. 


391 


Journal   of  Captain  Thomas 

Scott,  cited,  124. 
Journal  of  the  Reign  of  George 

III,  see  Walpole,  Horace. 
Journals    of    Congress,    The, 

cited,  55,  58. 

Kalm,  Peter,  143. 

Kane,   I.,  his  Artillery  List, 

cited,  206,  207,  287. 
Kensington,  Henry,  v,  vii. 
Kent,  England,  135,  327. 
Kidwally,  151. 
Kilmansegge,    the    Baroness, 

.155. 
Kingston,    Canada,    formerly 

Cataracony,  193. 
Kingston,  N.  Y.,  34,  36,  46. 
Kingston,  Robert,  bearer  of 

a   message    to    Gates,   47, 

305  ;  biographical  notice  of, 

305-306. 
Kinsale,  England,  339. 
Knight,  Charles,  his  Pictorial 

History  of  England,  cited, 

239- 

Laborers,  Land  of,  95. 

Labrador,  origin  of  the  name, 
95  ;  mentioned,  93. 

La  Carne,  Jean-Louis  de,  253. 

La  Carne  St.  Luc,  Luc  de 
Chapt  de,  leader  of  the  In- 
dians, 24,  253;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  253-254; 
mentioned,  255. 

La  Fayette,  Marquis  de,  re- 
marks concerning  General 
Gates,  51  ;  before  Peters- 
burg, 175  ;  General  Poor 
served  under,  282. 


Lafitau,  J.  F.,  his  Mocurs  des 
Sauvages,  cited,  121. 

Lake  Champlain,  Ihirgoync 
received  recruits  at,  26; 
Arnold  as  commodore  on, 
146,  147,  241  ;  Pringle  on, 
148;  Longcroft  on,  151; 
list  of  the  American  fleet 
on,  162-164;  controlled  by 
the  English,  173;  men- 
tioned, 116,  119,  129,  134, 
135.  175.  178,  188,  200,  214, 
215,217,234. 

Lake  George,  forts  on,  held 
by  the  Americans,  19;  com- 
munications to  cut  off  from 
St.  Clair,  19;  discovered  by 
Champlain,  214;  called  St. 
Sacrament,  214;  why  the 
name  was  changed,  214; 
cannon  sent  by  the  way  of, 
233;  mentioned,  25,  41,  46, 
227,  234,  236,  316. 

Lake  Oneida,  18. 

Lake  Ontario,  18,  257. 

Lake  St.  Peter,  Digby  at,  1 1 3  ;  ' 
named  by  Champlain,  113. 

Lake  .St.  Sacrament,  former 
name  of  Lake  George,  214. 

Laleham,  England,  339. 

Lamb,  Sergeant  R.,  in  charge 
of  the  wounded,  219;  his 
Journal  of  Occurrences 
During  the  Late  American 
War,  cited,  34,49,  199,  203, 
220,  222,  234,  237,  245,  247, 
272-273,291,  325,  328,  330, 

332,  333>  334,  335»  33^,  337, 

341.347,349. 
Lancashire,  England,  87. 
Land  of  Laborers,  95. 


392 


Index. 


Langdale,  j^r^  Langlade,  Char- 
les de. 

Langlade,  Charles  de,  bio- 
graphical   notice    of,  254- 

255- 
Last  Journals  of  Horace  Wal- 

pole,  see  Walpole,  Horace. 

Laurel  Hill,  St.  Clair  died  at, 
219. 

Lauterback,  Germany,  Gen. 
Riedesel  born  in,  iio. 

Learned,  Gen.  Ebenezer,  at- 
tacked Burgoyne's  center, 
38,  41  ;  publicly  thanked, 
282  ;  biographical  notice  of, 
282-283 ;    mentioned,   289. 

Leeds,  Duke  of,  168. 

Lee,  Gen.  Charles,  10. 

Lee,  The,  captured,  162  ;  com- 
manded by  Davis,  164. 

Legineu,  General  Amherst 
served  under,  135. 

Le  Loup,  concerned  in  the 
murder   of    Jane    McCrea, 

235- 
Lesdeguieres,     the     Duchess 

of,    Charlevoix    letters   to, 

cited,  103,  104. 

L' Estrange,  Capt.  Richard, 
lost  in  the  ice,  182;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  182. 

Letter  from  Crown  Point,  A, 
cited,  138. 

Letters  and  Journals  of 
Madam  Riedesel,  see  Stone, 
Col.  William  L. 

Letters  to  the  Duchess  of 
Lesdeguieres,  from  Charle- 
voix, cited,  103-104. 

Levestoe,  vii,  see  Livingstone. 

Lewis,  Gen.  Morgan,  237. 


Lexington,  the  battle  of,  its 
effect  upon  the  English 
government,  4  ;;  General 
Heath  at,  62;  Col.  Nesbit 
at,  114;  its  effect  upon  Ar- 
nold, 147;  its  effect  upon 
Gates,  169;  L'Estrange  in, 
182;  its  effect  upon  Col. 
Hale,  216;  effect  upon  Col. 
Morgan,  270;  fired  the 
military  ardor  of  the  coun- 
try, 282;  its  effect  upon  Gen. 
Poor,  282. 

Liberty,  The,  commanded  by 
IVemier,    164;    mentioned, 
,163. 

Light  Dragoons,  the  Queen's, 
189,  229,  230,  23'[,  232, 
248. 

Light  Infantry,  211. 

Ligonier,  Lord  Edward,  bio- 
graphical   notice    of,    234, 

-35-. 
Ligonier,  Col.  P'rancis,  father 

of  Lord  Edward,  234. 
Ligonier,  Vi.scount,  of  Clon- 

mel,  234. 
Lincoln,  P^rancis  F.  C,  sixth 

Earl  of,  246. 
Lincolnshire,  England,  298. 
Lind,    Col.    John,    wounded, 

332  ;  biographical  notice  of, 

.333- 
Lindsay,  Alexander,  see  Bal- 

carres,  the  Earl  of. 

Lithy,  The,  missing,  91. 

Livingstone,  Robert,  a  daugh- 
ter of,  married  Gen.  Mont- 
gomery, 99. 

Livingstone,  Gov.  William, 
his  humorous  reply  to  Bur- 


Index. 


393 


goyne's     manifesto,     192  ; 

mentioned,  142. 
London,  2,  4,  15,17,  18,21,66, 

74,  92,  103,  116,   140,   148, 

160,  169,  171,  175,313,345. 
London  Chronicle,  The,  cited, 

140,  148. 
London  Morning  Post,  The, 

319- 

London,  Tower  of,  Captain 
Shrimpton  in  command  at 
the,  3::o. 

Long,  Col.,  attacked  by  Col. 
Hill,  224  ;  his  defeat  caused 
by  a  lack  of  ammunition, 
225. 

Longcroft,  Capt.  Edward,  at 
Riviere-la-Cole,  150;  com- 
mander of  the  Loyal  Con- 
vert, 152;  biographical 
notice  of,  150-15 1. 

Long  Island,  the  retreat  after 
the  battle  of,  compared  to 
the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill, 
60;  Sir  Henry  Clinton  at, 
246 ;  Riedesel  in  command 
at,  no;  mentioned,  313. 

Lords  Commissioners  of  the 
Admiralty,  151. 

Lossing,  Benson  J.,  his  Field 
Book  of  the  Revolution, 
cited,  34,  61,  62,  166,  170- 
171,  237. 

Louisburg,  the  siege  of,  Sir 
William  Pepperell  at,  2 ; 
New  England  troops  at,  83  ; 
Guy  Carleton  at,  84 ;  Gen. 
Montgomery  at,  99 ;  Sir 
William  Howe  at,  155;  Lord 
Ligonier  at,  234 ;  St.  Leger 
at,  257 ;  Farquar  at,  335. 

50 


Louisiana  ceded  to  Great 
Britain,  351  ;  Capt.  Forbes 

in,  351- 

Louis-le-Grand, College  de,  17. 

Loyal  Convert,The,  Digby  on, 
150,  152;  formerly  belonged 
to  the  Americans,  1 52  ;  com- 
manded by  Longcroft,  1 5 1- 

152. 
Loyalists    of    America     and 

their    times,   see   Ryerson, 

Egerton,  LL.  D. 
Loyalists    of    the    American 

Revolution,     see     Sabine, 

Lorenzo. 
Loyal  Rangers,  the,  194. 
Lucas,  Lieut.  Thomas,  killed, 

332  ;  biographical  notice  of, 

332. 
Lunenburg,  Mass.,  215. 
Luttrell,    Temple,    on   Lord 

Germaine,  239. 
Lyme,  England,  199. 
Lynd,  see  Lind. 

Maccabees,  the  Books  of, 
cited,  121. 

McCoy,  Ensign,  captured, 
145 ;  before  Gen.  Eraser, 
145-146;  information,given 
by  him,  146-147. 

Mc.Crea,  Jane,  the  story  of 
her  murder,  235-237  ;  men- 
tioned by  Gates,  262  ;  by 
Burgoyne,  264-265  ;  The 
Life  of,  by  D.Wilson,  cited, 

235-237. 
McDonald, ,  his  home 

and  mill  destroyed,  138. 
McFarlane,      William,     suc- 
ceeded Houghton,  109. 


Wmm 


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V' 


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m  : 


m\ 


394 


Index. 


McKay,  Capt.  Samuel,  com- 
mander of  the  Canadians, 
142  ;  his  cruelty,  142  ;  sent 
by  Burgoyne  to  open  the 
road,  300;  biographical  no- 
tice of,  300. 

Mackenzie,  Lieut.  Kenneth, 
killed,  334;  biographical 
notice  of,  336. 

McKinzy,  see  Mackenzie. 

McNeil,  Mrs.,  235. 

McPherson,  134. 

Magazine  of  American  His- 
tory, The,  cited,  112. 

Magdalen  Islands,  the,  92. 

Mahon,  Lord,  his  remarks 
concerning  Washington,  50; 
his  History  of  England, 
cited,  51,  73,  163,  244. 

Maine,  Arnold  in,  8 ;  Capt. 
Craig  in,  167;  mentioned, 
10. 

Malta,  Col.  Greene  in  com- 
mand at,  278. 

Malte  Brun,  Konrad,  cited,  89. 

Manchester,  Va.,  Col.  Morgan 
died  at,  271. 

Manifesto  of  Burgoyne,  189- 
192,  229 ;  humorous  replies 
to  the,  192,  229-233. 

Mansfield,  commanded  the 
New  Haven,  163. 

Marblehead,  Mass.,  59. 

Marblehead,  The  History  and 
Traditions  of,  cited,  61. 

Marburg,  no. 

Maria,The,  named  for  the  wife 
of  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  145, 
148 ;  commanded  by  Lieut. 
Starke,  151;  Carleton  on 
board,  157. 


Marlborough,  the  Duke  of, 
Burgoyne  served  under, 
115;  mentioned,  (^. 

Marshall,  Lieut.  John,  his 
Royal  Naval  Biography, 
cited,  140. 

Marshall,  Col.  Thomas,  pub- 
licly thanked,  283;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  283. 

Martinico,  campaign  against, 
Gates  in  the,  169;  Suther- 
land in  the,  310. 

Martinique,  Blomfield  at  the 
capture  of,  326. 

Massachusetts,  9,  61,  92,  114, 
211,  282,  283,314,315,316. 

Maurepas,  Jean  Frederic, 
Comte  de,  fort  named  in 
honor  of,  126. 

Medford,  birthplace  of  Col. 
Francis,  211;  the  History 
of,  see  Brooks,  the  Rev. 
Charles. 

Mediterranean  sea,  the,  Craig 
in  service  in,  167. 

Memoirs  of  Gen.  Heath,  see 
Heath,  Gen.  William. 

Memoirs  of  Maj.-Gen.  Riede- 
sel,  see  Stone,  Col.  William. 

Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times, 
see  Wilkinson,  Gen.  James. 

Menominees,  the,  under  de 
Langlade,  255. 

Meyrick,  Dr.,  117. 

Middlesex  county,  England, 
339. 

Midhurst,  represented  by  Bur- 
goyne, 115. 

Military  Journal  of  Thatcher, 
The,  see  Thatcher,  James, 
M.  D. 


t 


Index. 


395 


• 


Military  Memoirs  of  Great 
Britain,  The,  see  Beatson, 
Robert. 

Miller,  Capt.  Robert,  his 
daughter  married  Capt. 
Wilson,  127. 

Minigo,  the  Indian  name  of 
the  Island  of  Orleans,  103. 

"  Mister,"  applied  to  Wash- 
ington, 3,  15. 

Mobile,  Ramsey  at,  348 ; 
Featherstone  at,  349. 

Mohawk  river,  the,  forts  on, 
held  by  the  Americans,  19, 
21  ;  unsuccessful  expedition 
to,  257 ;  Fort  Stanwix  on, 
258. 

Monckton,  Gen.  Gates  his  aid- 
de-camp,  169. 

Money,  Gen.  John,  taken 
prisoner,  290;  biographical 
notice  of,  290-291. 

Monin,  Capt.,  commander  of 
the  Canadians,  142  ;  cruelty 
of,  142 ;  death  of,  142 ; 
mentioned,  193. 

Monmouth,  battle  of.  Gen. 
Poor  at,  282 ;   mentioned, 

39- 
Monning,  Capt.,   see   Monin, 

Capt. 

Montcalm,  Louis  Joseph, 
Marquis  de,  erected  works 
at  St.  Johns,  116;  at  Ticon- 
deroga,  127,  204;  erected 
Fort  George,  227. 

Montgomery,  Capt.  William 
Stone,  wounded  and  taken 
a  prisoner,  220,  221,  225, 
348 ;  biographical  notice  of, 
221-222. 


Montgomery,  Gen.  Richard, 
joined  by  Arnold,  8  ;  army 
of,  wasted  by  disease  and 
exposure,  8 ;  unsuccessful 
attack  upon  Quebec,  8,  99, 
325 ;  known  to  Carleton, 
84 ;  captured  Trois  Rivieres, 
84 ;  captured  Forts  St. 
Johns  and  Chambly,  116, 
300;  his  coffin,  134;  suc- 
ceeded Schuyler,  241  ;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  99-101  ; 
mentioned,3, 9, 19,  102,253. 

Montgomery,  Sir  William, 
father  of  Capt.  William, 
221,  222. 

Montreal,  held  by  Arnold,  10; 
Burgoyne  at,  15,  120;  Gor- 
don buried  at,  129;  cap- 
tured, 253  ;  mentioned,  13, 
86,  106,  116,  122,  129,  131, 
176,  178,  183. 

Montreal,  Island  of,  120. 

Mordant,  Gen.  Sir  John,  ac- 
companied by  Capt.  Wey- 
mis,  333. 

Morgan,  Gen.  Daniel,  at- 
tacked Fraser,  38 ;  attacked 
the  British  right  flank,  38  ; 
o"  of  his  sharpshooters 
wcanded  Fraser,  39-40; 
advanced  on  the  enemy, 
270;  caused  great  havoc, 
272 ;  his  retreat,  273  ;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  270- 
272 ;  mentioned,  30. 

Morgan,  Gen.  Daniel,  Life  of, 
see  Graham,  James,  and 
Cooke,  John  Esten. 

Morton,  the  Earl  of,  ancestor 
of  Sir  Charles  Douglass,  104. 


l:^^^ 


396 


Index. 


Mothe,  Sieur  la,  erected  a 
fort,  143 ;  island  named  for 
him,  143. 

Mott,  Samuel,  254. 

Mount  Defiance,  occupied  by 
Burgoyne,  218;  remarks  of 
Washington  concerning, 
219;  mentioned,  204;  see 
Sugar-loaf  hill. 

Mount  Hope,  occupied  by 
Fraser,  19. 

Mount  Independence,  origin 
of  the  name,  208 ;  retreat 
from,  208-210;  mentioned, 
214,  see  Fort  Independ- 
ence. 

Mount  Vernon,  Gen.  Gates  at, 
169. 

"  Mr.",  applied  to  Washing- 
ton, 3,  15. 

Murray,  Lieutenant  James, 
wounded,  349 ;  biographi- 
cal notice  of,  352. 

Musselburgh,  Scotland,  104. 

Namur,  The,  150. 

Nantucket,  Sir  Isaac  Coffin  a 
native  of,  92. 

Narrative  of  his  Conduct  in 
America,  by  Sir  Henry 
Clinton,  cited,  247. 

Narrative  of  Lieut.-Gen.  Sir 
William  Howe,  cited,  71. 

Naticousti,  former  name  of 
Anticosti,  97. 

National  Library  at  Washing- 
ton, vi. 

Natiscotes,  former  name  of 
Anticosti,  97. 

Naval  History  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, see  Brenton,  Edward  P. 


Naylor,  Lieut.  William  Pen- 
dred,  taken  prisoner,  337  ; 
biographical  notice  of,  345- 

346. 

Neilson,  Charles,  his  Account 
of  Burgoyne's  Campaign, 
cited,  235,  237. 

Nesbit,Col.,  ill-treated  prison- 
ers, 108. 

Nesbit,  Gen.  William,  in  com- 
mand before  Fort  Sorel, 
114;  succeeded  by  Suther- 
land, 310. 

New  Britain,  93. 

New  Brunswick,  Capt.  Ram- 
say in,  349. 

New  England,  to  be  separated 
from  the  south  and  west, 
14;  to  furnish  supplies  to 
oppose  Burgoyne,  15  ;  to  be 
attacked  by  Burgoyne,  21, 
321  ;  troops  of,  at  Louis- 
burgh,  83 ;  troops  under 
Amherst,  135. 

Newfoundland,  early  fishing 
on  the  banks  of,  90;  called 
Baccalaos  and  Codlands, 
90;  described,  92-93  ;  men- 
tioned, 88,  89,  91. 

New  Hampshire,  10,  38,  216, 
282. 

New  Hampshire  Historical  So- 
ciety Collections,  cited,  233. 

New  Haven,  Arnold  a  drug- 
gist in,  147. 

New  Haven,  The,  burnt,  162  ; 
commanded  by  Mansfield, 
163. 

New  Jersey,  William  Living- 
stone governor  of,  192 ; 
mentioned,  10,  270. 


Index. 


397 


Newport,  Gen.  Sullivan  at  the 
siege  of,  lo;  permission  not 
granted  for  the  British 
troops  to  depart  from,  53; 
Burgoyne   embarked  from, 

59- 
New  Travels  in  the   United 

States  of  America  by  J.  P. 

B.  de  Warville,  cited,  62. 

New  York,  city,  Howe  and 
Clinton  in,  19;  Clinton  in 
command  at,  25  ;  Burgoyne 
received  no  help  from,  26 ; 
Gen.  Gates  died  at,  171  ; 
prison  ships  ar,  232 ;  in- 
ducements offered  for  re- 
cruits in,  247 ;  mentioned, 
246,  346. 

New  York  State,  vi,  8,  14,  19, 
61,  99,  169,  194,  195,  241, 
282. 

New  York,  The  History  of, 
see  Jones,  Thomas,  and 
Dunlap,  William. 

New  York,  The,  burnt,  162; 
commanded  by  Reed,  163. 

New  York  Council  of  Safety, 
censured  St.  Clair,  219. 

New  York,  Documents  Relat- 
ing to  the  Colonial  History 
of,  see  O'Callaghan,  E.  B., 
LL.D. 

Niagara  river,  the,  39. 

Nicholson,  Col.,  built  Fort 
Anne,  221. 

Nineteenth  Light  Dragoons, 
156. 

Ninety-fifth  Foot,  257. 

Ninety-first  Foot,  124,  290. 

Ninth  Battalion,  326. 

Ninth  Dragoons,  221. 


Ninth  Foot,  22 1 ,  224, 234,  290, 
329,347,348,351,352,353; 
Historical  Record  of  the, 
cited,    221-222,   .?25,    235, 

329*  347. 
Ninth  Regiment,  the  colors  of 

the,   concealed,    56 ;    men- 

tioned^  122,  196,  221. 

Noel,  M.,  translated  An- 
burey's  Travels  Through 
the  Interior  Part^  of  Amer- 
ica, 17. 

Norfolk  militia,  the,  290. 

Normands,  the,  103. 

Normandy,  179. 

North  Britain,  189,  229. 

North,  Lord  Frederick,  re- 
sponsible for  hiring  the 
German  troops,  7 ;  repre- 
hended Burke  and  Fox 
for  eulogizing  Montgom- 
ery, loi ;  mentioned,  65, 
318. 

North  river,  the,  },2\^see  Hud- 
son river. 

North  sea,  the,  93. 

North-western  territory,  St. 
Clair  governor  of  the, 
219. 

Norwich,  Conn.,  birthplace  of 
Benedict  Arnold,  146. 

Norwich,  England,  John 
Money  a  native  of,  290. 

Nottingham,  England,  Gen. 
Howe  a  representative  of, 

155-156. 
Nova  Scotia,  92  ;  the  History 

of,  see  Haliburton,  Thomas 

C. 
Nutt,  Lieut.  George  Anson, 

biographical  notice  of,  195, 


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398 


Index. 


Obins,  Lieut.  Hamlet,  killed, 
332 ;  biographical  notice  of, 

332-333- 
O'Callaghan,  Edmund  B.,  LL. 

D.,    his    edition     of    Bur- 

goyne's     Orderly     Books, 

cited,  124,  195, 196,  199,237, 

256,330,  335,  339,347;  his 
Colonial  History  of  New 
York,  cited,  257  ;  his  Docu- 
ments Relating  to  the 
Colonial  History  of  New 
York,  cited,  254,  257. 

One  Hundred  and  Eighth 
Foot,  129. 

One  Hundred  and  Fifth  Foot, 

35t. 
One    Hundred    and    Second 

Foot,  351. 
One  Hundred  and  Thirteenth 

Royal      Highland    Volun- 
teers, 196. 
Orderly  Books  of  Burgoyne, 

the,  see   O'Callaghan,    Ed- 
mund B.,  LL.  D. 
Orleans,  Island  of,  Digby  at, 

103 ;    called   Minigo,    103 ; 

called     Lsle     of    Bacchus, 

103. 
Orne,  Capt.,  59. 
Oswego,  St.  Leger  retired  to, 

256. 
Ottawa,  vi. 
Ottawas,  the,  join  the  British, 

228  ;  under  Langland,  254- 

255. 
Oughton,  Lieut.-Gen.,   Capt. 

Greene  served  under,  278. 
Our  Commanders,  319. 
Oxford,  Mass.,  Gen.  Learned 

died  at,  283. 


Oyseaux,  Isles  aux,  described, 
92. 

Palmer,  Lieut.,  concerned  in 
the  killing  of  Miss  McCrea, 
236. 

Palmer,  P.  S.,  his  History  of 
Lake  Champlain,  cited,  217, 
218-219. 

Paris,  103. 

Parker,  Sir  Peter,  his  expedi- 
tion against  Charleston, 
195. 

Parsons,  Usher,  M.  D.,  his 
Life  of  Sir  William  Pep- 
perell,  cited,  2. 

Patterson,  Col.,  a  messenger 
for  Gen.  Howe,  3. 

Pausch,  183. 

Pearl,  The,  83. 

Peekskill,  72. 

Peninsular  war,  the,  Lieut. 
Howarth  in,  328. 

Pennsylvania,  Howe's  expe- 
dition to,  25  ;  mentioned, 
107,  108,  126,  137,  138,  165, 
166,  218,  219,  270. 

Pennsylvania  Historical  Soci- 
ety, vi. 

Pennsylvania  Sixth  Regi- 
ment, 126. 

Pennsylvania  State  Library, 
vi,  127,  138. 

Pensacola,  149. 

Pepperell,  Sir  William,  formed 
a  regiment,  2 ;  at  Louis- 
burgh,  2 ;  knighted,  2 ; 
death  of,  2 ;  The  Life  of, 
see  Parsons,  Usher.  M.  D. 

Percy,  Lord,  Craig  served  un- 
der, 166. 


Index. 


399 


Petersburgh,  Va.,  Gen.  Phil- 
lips died  at,  175. 

Peters,  John,  father  of  Lieut.- 

•    Col.  John,  193. 

Peters,  Lieut.-Col.  John,  in 
command  of  the  provincial 
Tory  corps,  193  ;  biographi- 
cal notice  of,  193. 

Peters,  the  Rev.  Samuel,  193. 

Petershaw,  Lord,  129. 

Philadelphia,  Gen.  Howe 
prepared  an  expedition 
against,  19,64;  St.  Clair  in 
command  at,  219;  evacu- 
ated by  Clinton,  246 ;  men 
tioned,  35,  64,  loi,  247. 

Philadelphia,  The,  sunk,  162  ; 
commanded  by  Rice,  163. 

Phillips,  Ensign  Levinge 
Cosby,  killed,  336 ;  bio- 
graphical   notice   of,   342- 

343- 
Phillips,  Gen.  William,  before 

Ticonderoga,  19;  his  orders 
concerning  Whitcomb,  133; 
advised  Carleton  to  ad- 
vance, 172;  reconnoitered 
the  enemy's  lines,  174-175  ; 
in  command  at  Montreal, 
184;  advised  Burgoyne  to 
advance,  275  ;  Capt.  Greene 
under,  278 ;  Bloomfield 
served  under,  325-326;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  174- 
175  ;  mentioned,  16,  18,  30, 
37,  42,  243,  294. 

Pickering,  Charles,  M.  D.,  his 
Races  of  Men  and  their 
Geographical  Distribution, 
cited,  95. 

Pigeons  plenty,  152. 


Pilot,  Capt.  Henry,  brother- 
in-law  of  Digby,  149;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  149- 
150. 

Pixton,  Maj.  Acland  died  at, 
112. 

Placentia,  Bay  of,  91. 

Playfair,  William,  his  British 
Family  Antiquary,  cited, 
104,  1 16,  222,  327. 

Plymouth, England,  fleet  from, 
88;  Sir  William  Howe, 
governor  of,  1 56. 

Plymouth,  Mass.,  9. 

Point  au  Faire,  see  Point  au 
Fer. 

Point  au  Fer,  blockhouse 
erected  on,  152;  mentioned, 

153,  148,  177- 

Political  Index  to  the  His- 
tories of  Great  Britain,  see 
Beatson,  Robert. 

Poor,  Daniel,  grandfather  of 
Gen.  Enoch,  282. 

Poor,  Gen.  Enoch,  attacked 
the  British  left,  38 ;  publicly 
thanked,  282,  biographical 
notice  of,  282. 

Poor,  Thomas,  father  of 
Enoch,  282. 

Port  Andre,  207. 

Port  Neuf,  Digby  at,  105. 

Portsmouth,  England,  59. 

Portugal,  Burgoyne  and  Gard- 
ner in,  222  ;  mentioned,  39. 

Potton,  England,  granted  to 
the  Burgoyne  family,  10. 

Powell,  Gen.  Henry  Watson, 
in  command  at  Ticon- 
deroga, 285  ;  biographical 
notice  ot,  196-199. 


iiyj-iM^mwpnw 


I   1 


400 


Index. 


'<:    i 


Powell's  Rrigade,  181,  337. 

Prairie,  La,  129. 

Premier, ,  commander  of 

The  Liberty,  164. 

Prentis,  Capt.,  133,  134. 

Preston,  Burgoyne  the  repre- 
sentative of,  67,  115. 

Prince  Society,  the  publica- 
tion of,  cited,  127. 

Prince,  Lieutenant  William, 
wounded,  349;  biographi- 
cal notice  of,  352. 

Princess  Amelia,  The,  150. 

Pringle,  Capt.  Thomas,  com- 
modore of  Lake  Champlain, 
148,  152,  157-158;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  148 ; 
mentioned,  139,  164. 

Prospect  Hill,  Boston,  the 
quarters  of  the  British 
troops,  49-50. 

Providence,  The,  burnt,  162; 
commanded  by  Simonds, 
163. 

Public  Records  Office,  4. 

Putnam,  Gen.  Israel,  in  the 
Highlands,  25. 

Putnam's  Creek,  201. 

Quaker  Springs,  30. 

Quebec,  Carleton  took  refuge 
in,  8,  13,  16;  daring  attack 
upon,  8,  99 ;  Gen.  Thomas 
before,  9;  Burgoyne  at,  14, 
104 ;  Dearborn  in  the 
assault  of,  38 ;  New  England 
troops  at,  83 ;  Carleton, 
governor  of,  84 ;  the  attempt 
to  storm,  99;  Digbyat,  104; 
Gen.  Nesbit  died  at,  1 14 ; 
Sir  William  Howe  at,  155  ; 


Craig  at,  167;  mentioned, 
vi,  3,  70,  83,  92,  98,  99,  102, 
103,  105,  106,  108,  116,  122, 

135.  139.  151.  152,  173.  176, 
180,  182,  183,  198,  222,  228, 
230,254,  257,  271,  325,  332, 
335»  336,  341  ;  Journal  of 
the  Principal  Occurrences 
During  the  Siege  of,  see 
Shc/tt,  W.  T. 

Queen's  Loyal  Americans, 
the  regiment  of  the,  the  in- 
humanity of,  257. 

Queen's  Ranger  Huzzars, 
the,  247. 

Queen's  Regiment  of  Light 
Dragoons,  the,  189,  229. 

Races  of  Men  and  their  Geo- 
graphical Distribution,  see 
Pickering,  Charles,  M.  D. 

Radeau,  a,  described,  11. 

Ramsay,David,M.D.,his  His- 
tory of  the  American  Revo- 
lution, cited,  loi,  108,  244. 

Ramsay,  Captain  Malcolm, 
wounded,  344;  biographi- 
cal notice  of,  348-349, 

Randolph,  Thomas  Jefferson, 
his  Life  of  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son, cited,  175. 

Raphoe,  Ireland,  Gen.  Mont- 
gomery a  native  of,  99. 

Read,  Captain,  59. 

Reading,  Pa.,  Hartley  a  native 
of,  165. 

Reed,  Lieut.-Col.  James,  com- 
manded the  New  York,  163 ; 
mentioned,  216. 

Reed,  Joseph,  a  letter  from 
Washington  to,cited,  63-64 


Index. 


401 


Reflection  on  the  Fast,  318, 
Registers     of      Westminster 

Abbey,  cited,  1 16. 
Remembrances      of      Public 

Events,  The,  cited,  1 16,  291, 

306. 
Revenge,  The,  commanded  by 

Seaman,    163;    mentioned, 

162. 

Revolutionary  Record,  The, 
cited,  166. 

Reyncil,  Anne,  wife  of  Lieut. 
Reynell,  followed  her  hus- 
band to  America,  339;  her 
children,  339. 

Reynell,  J3aron  Richard  Little- 
ton, 339. 

Reynell,  Samuel,  339. 

Reyncil,  Sir  Thomas,  339. 

Reynell,  Lieut.Thomas,  killed, 
336;  biographical  notice  of, 
339-340. 

Reynell,  Thomas,  Jr.,  339. 

Reynels,  see  Reynell. 

Rhinebeck,  Gen.  Montgomery 
settled  at,  99. 

Rhinehesse,  Riedesel  born  in, 
no. 

R  lode  Island  troops,the,com. 
mandedbyGen. Sullivan,  10. 

Rice,commander  of  The  Phila- 
delphia, 163. 

Richardson,  Captain,  90. 

Richelieu,  Cardinal,  103. 

Richelieu  river,  the,  formerly 
called  the  River  of  the  Iro- 
quois and  the  Sorel,  103  ; 
mentioned,  116,  135. 

Richmond,  the  Duke  of,  his 

,  letter  to  Lord  Rockingham, 

'^  cited,  65. 

51 


Riedesel,  Baron  Fricdrich 
Adolph,  before  Fort  Inde- 
pendence, 19  ;  his  contempt 
for  the  American  prison- 
ers, 108;  marched  toward 
Skeensborough,  217;  sup- 
posed jealousy  concerning, 
217;  to  sustain  Fraser,  223- 
224;  sent  to  Bennington, 
248,  250  ;  the  romantic  at- 
tachment of  his  wife,  268 ; 
return  of  the  troops  under, 
355  J  biographical  notice  of, 
iio-iii;  mentioned,  16, 
18,  30,  31,  36,  37,  46,  48, 
88,  119,  184,  260,  293,  329, 
339  ;  Memoirs,  Letters  and 
Journals  of,  during  his  resi- 
dence in  America,  see  Stone, 
Col.  William  L. 

Riedesel,  Barons ~  Frederica 
Louisa,  her  romantic  attach- 
ment for  her  husband,  268  ; 
mentioned,  48,  339 ;  her 
Letters  and  Journals  relat- 
ing to  the  war  rtf  the  Amer- 
ican Revoluti.>n,  see  Stone, 
Col.  William  L. 

Rindge,  N.  H.,  History  of, 
see  Stearns,  Ezra  S. 

Rindge,  N.  H.,  home  of  Col. 
Hale,  216;  a  company  of 
minute  men  formed  in,  216. 

Riviere  la  Colle,  148,  149, 
150. 

Riviere  Sable,  Digby  at,  173. 

Robertson,  Lieut.  John  James, 
killed,  334;  biographical 
notice  of,  337. 

Rochfort,  the  expedition 
against,  333. 


402 


htdex. 


\V 


;a 


P  M 


Rockingham,  Lord,  letter  to, 
from  the  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond, cited,  65. 

Rodney,  Admiral,  Longcraft 
served  under,  1 50-1 51  ; 
Blomfield  served  under, 
326. 

Rogers,  Col.  Horatio,  his  edi- 
tion of  Hadden's  Journal 
and  Orderly  Book,  cited, 
vi,  83,  86,  108,  112,  115, 
128,  130,  134,  148,  180,  181, 
184,  193,  194,  195,  199,203, 
206,  207,  216,  223,  227-228, 
254,  291,  298,  299,325,328, 

338,  351- 
Rome,  N.  Y.,  the  site  of  Fort 

Stanwix,  258. 
Rowe,  Lieut.  John,  wounded, 

342  ;  biographical  notice  of, 

348. 

Roxbury,  Mass.,  9,  39,  61,  62. 

Royal  Americans,  the,  Gates 
a  major  in,  169. 

Royal  Artillery,  Phillips  a 
captain  in  the,  174;  men- 
tioned, 278,  324,  325,  326, 
327,  328,  329. 

Royal  Artillery,  History  of, 
see  Duncan,  F. 

Royal  Engineers,  the, 337, 346. 

Royal  George,  The,  18,  201, 
223. 

Royal  Greens,  Johnson's,  in- 
humanity of,  257. 

Royal  Highland  Emigrants, 
the,  331. 

Royal  Irish  Dragoons,  the, 
338. 

Royal  Naval  Biography,  see 
Marshall,  Lieut.  John. 


Royal  Regiment  of  New 
York,  the  inhumanity  of, 
257. 

Royal  Savage,  The,  built  by 
Arnold,  158;  destroyed, 
158-159,  162,  177;  com- 
manded by  Hawley,  163  ; 
mentioned,  145. 

Russia,  5. 

Rutherford,  Lieut.  Richard, 
wounded,  334 ;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  337. 

Ryerson,  Egerton,  LL.  D., 
his  Loyalists  of  America 
and  their  Times,  cited,  244, 
306. 

Sabine,  Lorenzo,  his  Loyal- 
ists of  the  American  Rev- 
olution, cited,  194,  243- 
244. 

Sacs,  the,  under  de  Langlade, 
254-255. 

St,  Clair,  Gen.  Arthur,  his 
communication  with  Lake 
George  cut  off,  19;  at  Ti- 
conderoga,  19;  surprised 
by  the  British,  20;  retreated, 
leaving  his  stores  behind, 
20 ;  the  retreat  disclosed, 
20;  failed  to  hold  his  po- 
sition, 170,  174;  in  com- 
mand at  Ticonderoga,  204 ; 
his  want  of  foresight,  204; 
Burgoyne  on,  204;  at  Cas- 
tletown, 218  ;  censured,  218; 
before  Congress,  241-242  ; 
biographical  notice  of,  218- 
219. 

St.  Dennis,  Digby  at,  no. 

St.  Johns,  see  Fort  St.  Johns. 


^«IH.  '^r^r 


Index. 


403 


St.    Lawrence,   Gulf   of,   de- 
scribed, 91-92 ;  full  of  ice, 
104. 
St.  Lawrence  river,  10,  18,92, 
93»  96,  97»   102,    120,   178, 
180,  181. 
St.  Leger,  Lieut.-Col.  Barry, 
to  make  a  division  on  the 
Mohawk,    1 5  ;  detached  to 
Fort  Schuyler,  18;  at  Fort 
Schuyler,  23,    161  ;    retreat 
of,  27;  at  Oswego,  256;  to 
meet  Burgoyne  at  Albany, 
257-258;    fine  conduct  of, 
258  ;  joined  by  McKay,  300 ; 
biographical  notice  of,  256- 
257;  mentioned,  28. 
St.  Luc,  see  La  Carne  St.  Luc, 

Lut  de  Chapt  de. 
St.  Malo,  Burgoyne  at  the  at- 
tack of,  115;  Hamilton  at, 
196. 
St.  Maurice  river,  106, 
St.  Paul,  Island  of,  91. 
St.  Sacrament,  Lake,  former 
name  of  Lake  George,  214. 
Salem,  59. 

Salons,      Baron      Alexander, 
wounded,    349 ;    biographi- 
cal notice  of,  352-353. 
Saratoga,  Burgoyne  encamp- 
ed at,  28 ;  mentioned,    vii, 
58,  302,  303,  309,  314,  317, 
323*  333.  338,  344,  345,  349, 
352,  353- 
Saratoga,  the  battle  of,  Lieut. 
Wright  killed  at,  329  ;  men- 
tioned, 39. 
Saratoga,  Heights  of,  held  by 
the    Americans,   42 ;    Bur 
goyne  on  the,  267,  300. 


Saratoga,  name  given  by  Gen. 

Morgan  to  his  farm,  271. 
Saratoga,       a       pseudonyn-, 

signed    to    the    humorous 

manifesto,  233. 
Saunders,  F.,  vi. 
Saunders,  William,  captured, 

131- 
Savages  join  the  British  army, 

1 20-121;    described,     121; 
see  Indians, 
Scaling  a  gun  described,   154. 
Scalping  among  the  Scythi- 
ans, 121  ;j^(?  under  Indians. 
Schank,    Lieut.,   commanded 

the  Inflexible,  152. 
Schiller,    Johann    Christoph, 
upbraided  the  Germans  for 
sending  troops  to  America, 
6. 
Schuyler,  Gen.  Phillip,   com- 
m.ander   of    the   American 
army,    19;    laid  hindrances 
in  the  way  of  Burgoyne,  22  ; 
his  army  encamped  on  the 
Mohawk  and   Hudson,  22  ; 
superseded    by   Gates,   29; 
his    diary    cited,    31  ;    his 
mansion  the  head-quarters 
of     Burgoyne,     42 ;     took 
charge    of  Mme.    Riedesel 
and    her  children,  48,  242 ; 
friend  of  George  Augustus, 
Lord    Howe,   156;  to  him 
belongs     the      honor      of 
Burgoyne's     defeat,     170; 
Gates  envious  of,  170;    Let- 
ter from    Gates,    172;    as- 
signed     Ticonderoga       to 
Gates  and  then  to  St.  Clair, 
204;   accused  of  accepting 


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404 


Index. 


a  bribe,  219 ;  issued  a  proc- 
lamation, 233  ;  before  Con- 
gress, 241-242 ;  feeling 
against,  242 ;  his  house 
burned,  249,  299,  301 ;  re- 
paired Fort  Stanwix,  258 ; 
named  the  fort,  258 ;  met 
Burgoyne,  301 ;  told  Bur- 
goyne  to  have  no  regret 
for  burning  the  house,  301 ; 
Burgoyne's  excuse,  301  ; 
biographical  notice  of,  241- 

243- 
Schyler,  see  Schuyler. 

Scotland,  87.  104,  218,  344. 

Scot's  Farm,  142. 

Scott,  Capt.  Alexander,  lost 
in  the  ice,  181  ;  biographi- 
cal notice  of,  181. 

Scott,  Lieut.  Thomas,  a  mes- 
senger for  Burgoyne,  36, 
123;  his  Journal  cited,  124; 
cruising  off  Isle  la  Motte, 
143 ;  passed  through  the 
enemy's  fleet,  143  ;  took  to 
the  woods,  143-144;  com- 
manded the  Thunderer, 
152;  biographical  notice 
of,  122-124. 

Scythians,  scalping  among 
the,  121. 

Sea  Fencibles,  the,  151. 

Seaman,  commanded  the  Re- 
venge,  163. 

Second  Battalion,  181,  287. 

Second  Foot,  115. 

Second  New  Hampshire  Reg- 
iment, the,  216,  282. 

Seringapatam,  Lieut.  Scott  at 
the  taking  of,  124. 

Seventh  Regirrient,  100. 


Seventieth  Foot,  the,  114. 
Seventy-first        Highlanders, 

the,  87. 
Seventy-fourth      Foot,     the, 

351- 
Seventy-second  Foot,  the,  84, 

351. 
Seventy-seventh    Foot,    the, 

310. 

Shelburne,  Life  of  William 
Earl  of,  see  Fitzmaurice, 
Lord  Edmond. 

Shelly,  Surgeon,  220. 

Shirley,  Governor  William, 
formed  a  regiment,  2. 

Shooter's  Hill,  Blomfield's 
death  at,  327. 

Shortt,  W.  T.,  his  Journal  of 
the  Principal  Occurrences 
During  the  Siege  of  Que- 
bec, cited,  86. 

Shrimpton,  Captain  John, 
wounded,  211,  346;  bio- 
graphical   notice    of,    349- 

350. 

Siege  of  Boston,  the,  see 
Frothingham,  Hon.  Rich- 
ard. 

Silver  Bullet,  the  story  of  the, 
33-34,  284. 

Silver  Bullets  said  *:o  have 
been  thrown  by  Burgoyne, 
219. 

Simcoe,  Col.  John  Graves, 
accompanied  Arnold  on  his 
Southern  campaign,  246 ; 
commanded  the  Queen's 
Ranger  Huzzars,  247 ;  his 
Journal  cited,  175. 

Simonds  commanded  The 
Providence,  163. 


Index. 


405 


Sioux,  the,  under  de  Lang- 
lade, 254-255. 

Sismondi,  Jean  Charles  Leon- 
ard de,  his  Histoire  des 
Frangais,  cited,  135. 

"  Sister  Kitty,"  a  soubriquet 
conferred  on  Catherine  of 
Russia,  6. 

Sisters,  the,  missing,  91. 

Six  Nations,  the  expedition 
against,  Gen.  Poor  in,  282. 

Sixteenth  Dragoons,  the,  Bur- 
goyne's  Light  Horse,  115, 
222,  223,  248,  305,  332,  346. 

Sixth  Dragoons,  the,  290. 

Sixth  Pennsylvania  Regi- 
ment, the,  126,  165. 

Sixtieth  F'oot,  the,  155,  331. 

Sixty-fifth  Foot,  the,  195. 

Sixty-first  Foot,  the,  346. 

Sixty-fourth  Foot,  the,  196. 

Sixty-ninth  Foot,  the,  198. 

Sixty-second  Foot,  the,  36,  55, 
196,  272,  273,200,310,329, 

338,  339»340,  341,  342,  343> 
344,  345,  346,  349 ;  the  His- 
torical Record  of,  330,  344. 

Sixty-third  Foot,  the,  87. 

Skene,  Capt.  Phillip,  served 
under  Abercrombie,  217; 
named  Skenesborough,  217; 
mentioned,  233. 

Skenesborough,  Burgoyne  at, 
21,  22;  baggage  sent  to, 
205  ;  Riedesel  marched  to- 
ward, 217;  origin  of  the 
name,  217;  Digby  ordered 
to,  219-220;  the  army  as- 
sembled at,  222 ;  enemy 
driven  from,  223 ;  feu-de- 
joieat,  222,  225;  long  delay 


at,  226 ;  doubt  expressed 
concerning  the  expedience 
of  bringing  the  army  to, 
227 ;  the  delay  gave  the 
enemy  time  to  collect,  228  ; 
departure  of  the  army,  233; 
supplies  sent  from  Ticon- 
deroga,  266 ;  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Americans,  284  ; 
Cheland  killed  at,  325  ;  men- 
tioned, 222,  224,  228. 

Smith,  Lieut.  William  P.,' 
wounded,  425 ;  biographi- 
cal notice  of,  228. 

Snakes  at  Skeensborough, 
228. 

Somersetshire,  England,  iii, 
112,338. 

Sorel,  M.  de,  103. 

Sorel  river,  formerly  called 
the  River  of  the  Iroquois, 
103  ;  Capt.  Wilson  captured 
at   the,    126,    II,    116,   120, 

135,  145. 
South  American  coast,  Capt. 

York  drowned  on  the,  329. 
South  Carolina,  195. 
Spain  ceded  West  Florida  to 

Great    Britain,    149,    347 ; 

ceded  Louisiana   to  Great 

Britain,    351  ;     mentioned, 

95,  115- 
Spanish  West  Indies,  333. 

Sparks,  Jered,  his  Life  of 
Washington,  cited,  3,  51, 
53,  54,  86,  108,  163,  166, 
I7r,  219. 

Specht,  Johann  Frederick, 
biographical  notice  of,  197- 
199. 

Spencer,  Cornet,  247. 


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406 


Index. 


Spitfire,  The,  burnt,  162  ;  com- 
manded by  Ulmer,  163. 

Spofford,  A.  R.,  vi,  58. 

Spruce  used  as  an  anticros- 
butic    and    for    beer,    122, 

137- 

Stamford,  Conn.,  the  birth- 
place of  Gen.  Waterbury, 
162 ;  death  of  Waterbury 
at,  163. 

Stanly,  Capt.  John,  wounded, 
332  ;  biographical  notice  of, 

335- 
Stanwix,  Gen.  John,  his  name 

given  to  a  fort,  257  ;  served 

under    Abercrombie,    257- 

258. 

Stapleton,  Captain  Francis, 
killed,  341  ;  biographical 
notice  of,  347. 

Stark,  Gen.  John,  destroyed 
Baum's  command,  23  ;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  23-24. 

Stark,  Lieut.,  commanded  the 
Maria,  152. 

State  of  the  expedition  from 
Canada,  see  Burgoyne, 
Lieut. -Gen.  Sir  John. 

Staten  Island,  72. 

Stearns,  Ezra  S.,  his  History 
of  Rindge,  cited,  216. 

Stedman,  C,  his  History  of 
the  American  War,  cited, 
206,  247. 

Steele,  Lieutenant  Thomas, 
wounded,  346 ;  biographi- 
cal notice  of,  350-351. 

Stevelby,  Lieutenant  Joseph, 
wounded,  348-349 ;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  352. 

Stewart,  see  Stuart. 


Stillwater,  battle  of,  Schuy- 
ler's outposts  at  the,  22 ; 
Wright  killed  at  the,  245 ; 
TurnbuU  killed  at  the,  337  ; 
mentioned,  266. 

Stone,  F.  D.,  vi. 

Stone,  Col.  William  L.,  men- 
tioned, vi,  161  ;  his  articles 
in  the  Magazine  of  Ameri- 
can History,  cited,  1 12  ;  his 
Campaign  of  Gen.  John 
Burgoyne,  cited,  31,  299; 
his  edition  of  the  Letters 
and  Journals  of  the  Baroness 
Riedesel,  cited,  42,  43,  55, 
88,  HI,  199,  242-243,  293, 
297,  299,  300,  326-327,  340, 
343,  345  ;  his  edition  of  the 
Memoirs,  Letters  and  Jour- 
nals of  Baron  Riedesel, 
cited,  108,  HI,  119,  217, 
250,  252  ;  his  expedition  of 
Lieut, -Col.  Barry  St.  Leger, 
cited,  237,  257. 

Stopford,  Major,  128. 

Storey,  Thomas,  334. 

Strangways,  Captain  Stephen 
Digby,  wounded,  335;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  338. 

Stuart,  Lieutenant  Archibald, 
killed,  336;  biographical 
notice  of,  341. 

Stuart,  James,  his  Three 
Years  in  North  America, 
cited,  87. 

Sugar  Hill,  see  Sugar-loaf 
Hill. 

Sugar-loaf  Hill,  General 
Phillips  on,  174;  comman- 
ded Ticonderoga,  204,  205, 
Capt.  Walker  on,  207. 


K 


Index. 


407 


Sullivan,  Gen.  John,  unable 
to  form  a  conjunction  with 
Arnold,  10;  fell  back  to 
Crown  Point,  1 1  ;  sent  with 
reinforcements  to  Albany, 
25  ;  elated  in  finding  himself 
in  command  before  Quebec, 
108-109;  unsuccessful  in 
recovering  lost  ground,  108- 
109 ;  evacuated  the  Isle  aux 
Noix,  138;  biographical 
notice  of,  10. 

Sumner,  commanded  the 
Boston,  163. 

Surinam,  Greene  in  the  expe- 
dition against,  278. 

Surrey,  England,  328. 

Sutherland,  Col.  Nicholas,  a 
messenger  from  Burgoyne 
to  Yates,  310,  311 ;  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  3 10-3 1 2. 

Sutton,  England,  granted  to 
the  Burgoyne  family,  114. 

Sutton,  Volunteer,  wounded, 
325  ;  biographical  notice  of, 
328-329. 

Swartwood,  Capt.  Abraham, 
his  coat  used  in  making  a 
flag,  161. 

Sweden,  95. 

Swetman,  see  Swettenham. 

Swettenham,  Captain  George, 
wounded,  342  ;  biographi- 
cal notice  of,  347. 

Sword-fish  described,  89. 

Talavera,  Lieut.  Howarth  at 

the  battle  of,  328. 
Taylor,  Ensign  George,  killed, 

336 ;  biographical  notice  of, 

341-342. 


Taylor,  Sei^eant  Daniel,  34. 
Tenth     Regiment,    the,    282, 

283. 
Tetton,     the     birthplace     of 

Major  Acland,  in. 
Thanet,  the  Earl  of,  supposed 

relative  of  Gen.  Gates,  168. 
Thatcher,  James,  M.  D.,  his 

Military  Journal,  cited,  219. 
Thevet,  Andre,  cited,  97. 
Third  Foot  Guards,  the,  160. 
Third    Light    Dragoons,  the, 

332. 

Third  New  Hampshire  Foot, 
the,  216. 

Thirteenth  Dragoons,  the, 
115. 

Thirteenth  Foot,  the,  224. 

Thirtieth  Foot,  the,  166,  278. 

Thirty-eighth  Foot,  the,  196. 

Thirty-first  Foot,  the,  1 14, 
149,  188,  278;  The  Histor- 
ical Record  of  the,  cited, 
150. 

Thirty-fourth  Foot,  the,  123, 
188,  196,  333,  351  ;  The 
Historical  Record  of  the, 
cited,  332,  333. 

Thirty-seventh  Foot,  the,  181. 

Thirty-sixth  Foot,  the,   1 14. 

Thirty-third  Foot,  the,  iii, 
J95»  336,  351  ;  The  Histor- 
ical Record  of  the,  cited, 
336. 

Thomas,  Gen.  John,  forced  to 
retreat,  9,  108  ;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  9 ;  mentioned, 
10. 

Thompson,  General  William, 
taken  prisoner,  9 ;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  107-108. 


4o8 


Index. 


% 


Three  Mile  Point,  201. 

Three  Years  in  North  Amer- 
ica, see  Stuart,  James. 

Thunderer,  The,  commanded 
by  Lieut.  Scott,  152. 

Ticonderoga,  put  into  a  con- 
dition of  defense  by  the 
Americans,  12;  Burgoyne 
to  take  a  post  within  sight 
of,  15  ;  dismayed,  18  ;  Gen, 
St.  Clair  at,  19,  170;  Bur- 
goyne before,  19-20  ;  the 
loss  of,  very  bitter  to  the 
Americans,  20,  224,  241- 
242  ;  capture  of,  hailed  with 
delight  by  George  III  and 
Lord  Germaine,  20-21,  64, 
225  ;  to  be  garrisoned  by 
troops  from  Carleton,  21  ; 
Burgoyne  obliged  to  garri- 
son it,  26-27 ;  attacked  by 
the  Americans,  37 ;  Bur- 
goyne's  intended  retreat  to, 
46,  245;  garrisoned,  124; 
Indian  name  of,  126;  de- 
scribed, 126-127,  213-214; 
probably  visited  by  Cham- 
plain,  126;  Montcalm  at, 
127;  called  Carilton,  127; 
Abercrombie  before,  127, 
258  ;  captured  by  Amherst, 
127;  by  Ethan  Allen,  127; 
by  Haldeman,  127 ;  Lord 
Howe  killed  at,  156,  241, 
258  ;  Waterbury  at,  163  ; 
Heartley  retired  to,  1 65- 1 66; 
paroled  prisoners  taken  to, 
166,  219;  Gates  in  com- 
mand at,  168;  the  force  at, 
169;  the  Americans  im- 
patient for  the  approach  of 


Carleton,  172;  forced  evac- 
uation, 174;  comments  on 
Carleton's  not  attempting 
to  reduce  it,  187;  General 
Powell  in  command  at,  196 
-197;  an  attack  repelled, 
197  ;  abandoned, 198 ;  Era- 
ser in  possession  of  an  emi- 
nence that  commanded  it, 
202 ;  assigned  to  Gates, 
204,  218;  commanded  by 
Sugar-loaf  Hill,  204-205 ; 
want  of  foresight  in  St. 
Clair,  204 ;  baggage  stored 
at,  226  ;  flight  of  the  enemy 
from,  227;  Lord  Howe  and 
Gen.  Schuyler  at  the  attack 
of,  241  ;  recruits  from,  266  ; 
fear  that  the  army  should 
be  obliged  to  return  to,  277  ; 
expedition  of  the  Ameri- 
cans against,  277 ;  rein- 
forcements expected  from, 
280 ;  report  of  its  capture, 
281 ;  news  of  the  attack 
received,  284-285  ;  partial 
success  of  the  Americans, 
285  ;  intercepted  dispatches 
to  Burgoyne  from,  285  ;  ex- 
press from,  286  ;  retreat  to, 
proposed,  292  ;  mentioned, 
vii,  72,  116,  129,  130,  131, 
132,  147,  163,  173,  176,206, 
223,  228,  230,  242,  246,  258, 

33i»  332,  349- 

Ticonderago,  see  Ticonderoga. 

Tierra  Laborador,  see  Labra- 
dor. 

Toboyne  Township,  Captain 
Adams    a    native    of    the, 

137- 


Index. 


409 


, 


Toovey,  Col.  John,  com- 
manded the  Fifty-third 
Regiment  of  Foot,  vi. 

Tories,  the,  feeling  against, 
243-244  ;  cause  embarrass- 
ment among  the  Ameri- 
cans, 255. 

Toronto,  244,  306. 

Torture  of  prisoners,  the.  did 
not  originate  among  the 
Indians,  121. 

Tower  of  London,  the,  Capt. 
Shrimpton  in  command  of, 

350. 

Townsend,  Dr.,  160. 

Traverse,  A.,  explained,  305. 

Trois  Rivieres,  Carleton  at,  84; 
Digby  at,  106 ;  described, 
106;  prisoners  paroled  at, 
132 ;  mentioned,  184. 

Trumbull,  The,  commanded 
by  Wigglesworth,  163  ;  es- 
caped, 162. 

Turnbull,  Lieutenant  George, 
killed,  334,  337, ;  biograph- 
ical notice  of,  336-337. 

Twentieth  Foot,  the,  111,155, 
196,  272,  332,  333,  334,  335, 
336 ;  The  Historical  Record 
of  the,  cited,  333,  334. 

Twenty-eighth  Foot,  the,  256. 

Twenty-first    Dragoons,    the, 

346. 
Twenty-first  Foot,  the,    197, 

198,310,  336,  337,  348;  The 

Historical  Record  of  the, 

cited,  312,  336,  349. 
Twenty-fourth  Foot,  the,  87, 

122,144,  211,224,337,338; 

The  Historical   Record   of 

the,  cited,  337,  338. 

52 


Twenty-ninth  Foot,  the,  129, 
188,330,335,350,351;  The 
Historical  Record  of  the, 
cited,  330. 

Twenty-seventh  Foot,  the, 
248. 

Two  Voyages  to  New  Eng- 
land, see  Josselyn,  John. 

Tyconderoga,  see  Ticonder- 
oga. 

Ulmer,     Capt.,    commanded 

the  Spitfire,  163. 
United  States,  HibLoryof  the, 

.y^^ Graham,  the  Rev. James. 
United    States,  New  Travels 

in  the,  see  De  Warrville,  J. 

P.  Brisscot. 
United  States,  the,  63,   195, 

261,  281,  283,  312,  354. 
Universal     Magazine,      The, 

cited,  140,  148. 

Valcour  Island,  12. 

Valley  Forge,  Gen.  Poor  at, 
282 ;  mentioned,  60. 

Verchere,  Madame  de,  the 
heroism  of,  178-179. 

Vercheres,  described,  178- 
179;  origin  of  the  name,  178. 

Vermont,  194;  The  History 
oi.see  Hall,  Hiland,  LL.  D. 

Vershere,  see  Vercheres. 

Villaret,  Admiral,  148. 

Virginia,  Burgoyne's  captive 
army  sent  to,  62,  175  ;  Am- 
herst governor  of,  136; 
Arnold  in,  175  ;  Phillips  in, 
175  ;  mentioned,  107,  270. 

Vischer,  Col.,  letter  from  Gen. 
Wilkinson  to,  281. 


4IO 


Index. 


i  I 


I  ifl 


ii 


t      i 


Von  Gall,  Col.  W.  R.,  bio- 
graphical notice  of,  197- 
199. 

Vyner,  Mr.,  254,  303. 

Walker,  Capt.  Ellis,  ordered 
to  Sugar-loaf  Hill,  207 ; 
biographical  notice  of, 
207. 

Walpole,  Horace,  called  Cath- 
erine of  Russia  "  Sister 
Kitty,"  6  ;  idle  story  of  his 
being  the  father  of  Gen. 
Gates,  168;  god-father  of 
Gates,  168-169;  his  Jour- 
nal of  the  Reign  of  George 
HI,  cited,  21,  171,239,314, 
318-319,  320;  his  Last  Jour- 
nals, cited,  171. 

Walpole,  Horatio,  168. 

Warbourg,  Gen,  Phillips  at, 
174. 

Warner,  Col.  Seth,  captured 
Crown  Point,  127. 

War  of  Independence,  The 
History  of  the,  see  Botta, 
Carlo  G.  G. 

Washington  county,  the  sur- 
vey of,  see  Fitch,  Asa. 

Washington,  D.  C,  the  Na- 
tional Library  of,  vi. 

Washington,  Gen.  George,  ad- 
dressed as  "  Mister,"  3,  4, 
15  ;  his  confidence  in  Gen. 
Thomas,  9;  compared  to 
Moses,  14 ;  baffled  Howe, 
19 ;  sent  reinforcements  to 
Albany,  25;  delay  of  Gates 
in  informing  him  of  Bur- 
goyne's  surrender,  50;  his 
reply  to  Heath  concerning 


the  removal  of  the  troops 
from  Boston,  50-52  ;  Lord 
Mahon's  opinion  of,  50-51  ; 
letter  to  Gates,  50-51  ;  let- 
ters to  Heath,  52, 108 ;  letter 
to  Congress,  54 ;  letter  from 
Gates,  57;  letter  to  Reed, 
63-64 ;  puzzled  at  Howe's 
failure  to  co-operate  with 
Burgoyne,  71-72  ;  request 
for  an  exchange  of  prison- 
ers, 84-85 ;  opposed  send- 
ing Thompson  to  Virginia, 
107 ;  Gates  an  early  friend 
of,  169;  Gates  envious  of, 
170;  proclamation  of,  192; 
remarks  of,  concerning  the 
evacuation  of  Ticonderoga, 
219;  met  Morgan  at  Cam- 
bridge, 270-271  ;  consulted 
Morgan,  271  ;  his  eulogistic 
remarks  upon  Gen.  Poor, 
282  ;  mentioned,  39,  60,  62, 
216. 

Washington,  The  Life  of 
George,  see  Irving,  Wash- 
ington, and  Sparks,  Jered. 

Washington,The,  commanded 
by  Waterbury,  163  ;  cap- 
tured, 162,  173. 

Waterbury,  Gen.  David,  J., 
taken  prisoner,  162 ;  com- 
manded The  Washington, 
163 ;  biographical  notice 
of,  162 ;  mentioned,  165, 
166. 

Wayne,  Col.,  138. 

Wellington,  the  Duke  of, 
Howarth  served  under,  328. 

Wemys,  sec  Weymis. 

West  India  fleet,  the,  148. 


fir  fir 


Index. 


411 


West  Indies,  the,  Montgom- 
ery in,  99;  (jates  in,  169; 
Powell  in,  196;  Harris  in, 
331  ;  Lincl  in,  333  ;  Gordon 

in,  351- 
Westminster      Abbey,     Bur- 

goyne  buried  in,  191. 
Westminster  Abbey  Register, 

cited,  1 16. 
Westminster,    England,    Bur- 

goyne  educated  at,  115. 
Weston,  Mass.,  Col.  Marshall 

died  at,  283. 
West  Point,  60. 
Westroop,     Lieut.     Richard, 

killed  at    Fort  Anne,  235, 

348  ;  biographical  notice  of, 

234- 
Weymis,     Captain      Francis, 

wounded,  332 ;  biographical 

notice  of,  333-334- 
Whale  and   sword  fish,  fight 

between  a,  89. 
Whisky     Insurrection,      the, 

271. 
Whitcomb,  Lieut.  Benjamin, 

a  scout,  shot  Gen.  Jordon, 

128-13 1 ;    seized    a    British 

quartermaster,        1 29-1 31  ; 

his   account    of   the   affair, 

129;  Anburey's  account  of 

it,  130;  biographical  notice 

of,  131-134;  sent  to  recon- 

noiter,  145. 
Whitehall,  14,  258. 
Whitmore,  Lieut.-General,  in 

Florida,  347. 
Whitmore,    Rachel,    married 

Ebenezer  Francis,  211. 
Wigglesworth  commanded  the 

Trumbull,  163. 


Wight,  Captain,  killed,  347  ; 
mentioned,  266,  290. 

Wilkes,  John,  or  Lord  Ger- 
maine,  239. 

Wilkinson,  Gen.  James,  adju- 
tant for  Yates,  38,  306, 
310;  sent  by  Yates  to 
Congress  with  the  news  of 
Burgoyne's  surrender,  50; 
defended  Gates,  50;  saved 
the  life  of  Maj.  Acland, 
112;  a  letter  of  his  pub- 
lished, 280-281  ;  met  Major 
Kingston,  306;  his  Mem- 
oirs of  My  Own  Times, 
cited.,  35,  38,  42,  44-45, 
55,  112,  130,  138,  160,  171, 
225.  237,  274,  275,  299, 
306,  312,  342-343- 

Williams,  Major  Griffith,  ob- 
jected to  the  removal  of  his 
artillery,  286;  taken  pris- 
oner, 326;  biographical  no- 
tice of,  286-287. 

Wilson,  D.,  his  Life  of  Jane 
McCrea,  cited,  235-237. 

Wilson,  Captain  James  Arm- 
strong, taken  prisoner,  126; 
biographical  notice  of,  126; 
mentioned,  137. 

Wilson,  Jean,  mother  of  Capt. 
James,  126. 

Wilson,  Thomas,  father  of 
Capt.  James,  126, 

Windsor  Castle,  Phillips  lieu- 
tenant governor  of,  174. 

Winnebagoes,  The,  under  de 
Langlade,  254-255. 

Winter  Hill,  Boston,  the  quar- 
ters of  the  German  troops 
at,  49-50- 


I 


im 


412 


Index, 


Wisconsin  Historical  Society, 
The  Collections  of  the, 
cited,  255. 

Wolfe,  General  James,  L'Es- 
trange  with,  182;  St.  Clair 
with,  218;  St.  Leger  with, 
257;  mentioned,  84,  155. 

Wolterton,  the  Baron  of,  168. 

Wolves  devour  the  dead,  246. 

Woodcock,  The,  83. 

Woolwich  Royal  Military 
Academy,  Phillips  educated 
at  the,  174 ;  Carter  at,  205  ; 
Walker  at,  207 ;  Williams 
in  command  at,  287  ;  Jones 
at,  324;  Blomfield  at,  325  ; 
Smith  at,  328  ;  York  at,  329. 

Wright,  Louis  James,  killed, 
327 ;  biographical  notice  of, 

329- 
Wright,    Captain    John,    bio- 
graphical notice  of,  245. 


Wyandot  Panther,  The,  235, 

236. 
Wyoming,  the   massacre    of, 

166. 

Yale  College,  193. 

York,  Lieut.  John  H.,  taken 

prisoner,  326 ;  biographical 

notice  of,  329. 
York,  Pa.,  Hartley's  death  at, 

166. 
York,    the     Duke     of.    Fort 

George  named  for,  228. 
Yorktown,  Cornwallis*  surren- 
der at,  39 ;  St.  Clair  at  the 

siege  of,  219. 
Young,  Ensign  Henry,  killed, 

336 ;      biographical    notice 

of,  346. 

Zebra,  The,  Longcraft   com- 
mander of,  151. 


I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Edward  Denham,  of  New  Bedford, 
an  expert  in  all  matters  relating  to  indexing,  for  his  valuable 
services  in  compiling  this  index. 


•  !< 


■'*   ■■ 


